Greed - strikes

[TheMindfulMum]

I'm not normally one to comment on such things or get political as it were but here goes.

I've just seen a headline that today barristers went on strike over pay. Now granted, I don't know the details of their pay BUT my gut response is if people were less greedy this country would be in a much better place?

I think I'm safe to assume that most barristers earn a very decent wage. Probably enough not to be worrying about the cost of living rise many other families are rightly fearful of at the moment. This weekend we went through our finances and worked out what we can afford to spend per week on food. I doubt a barrister has ever done that?!

I'm all for people being paid what they're due but there comes a line when it is just greed. Wanting a 15% pay increase when they're probably already on mega bucks feels frustratingly and morally wrong in the current climate. Especially when you take into account the pandemic and what our NHS staff do every day on a pittance, comparatively.

Anyone else feel like the rich continue to get richer and greed is a horrible horrible trait in society?

thesecretbarrister.com/2022/06/27/the-criminal-bar-on-strike-9-things-you-need-to-know/?fbclid=IwAR25hqrL4FjramYeFT9nSG_RLqtACuGlOQ4H8B-NriPospg5c1zHxQotIaM

Also considering the massive amount of responsibilty they have. There are also the continuing cuts to legal aid and massive backlogs of rape cases to be tried.

It is a humanitarian disaster. These barristers go into the profession - hoping to act ethically and according to the law, obviously but due to the cuts in the system - find themselves caught up in a system that makes that well nigh impossible.

The Family Court delays also - due to the lack of judges. This impacts on kids and families who may be already desperate i.e. survivors of domestic abuse.

There is a union for the third sector. Hopefully membership will grow.

community-tu.org/who-we-are/our-sectors/third-sector-workers/

thats a really good article motheruser

Criminal barristers are paid a pittance , often well below the minimum wage ( they are self employed) there has been not rise in the rate since 1997. 25% of the profession has left in the last couple of years , they also get no sick pay and no maternity . They are striking not just over pay but over the chaos that our court system is in , it’s now possible that cases will take up to 4 years to reach court . The government has destroyed the system of justice in this country .

whatever you might think of Starmer - at least he has the background to go some way to fixing this particular mess...

Maybe you could do some research and actually read what they are paid and what the issues are before starting a thread pontificating about something you are obviously totally ignorant about?

Your post makes you look pretty silly tbh.

Don't people do a modicum of research before shooting their mouths off these days?

It would appear not...

Wasn't it Gove that said the public had "had enough of listening to experts"? This is where that mentality leads us.

Don't people do a modicum of research before shooting their mouths off these days?

It would appear not...

Wasn't it Gove that said the public had "had enough of listening to experts"? This is where that mentality leads us.

I don't think this thread should be deleted actually. Let it stand as a testament to the pitiful level of research people do before condemning workers standing up for their rights.

Actually - very good point.

Follow Joanna Hardy on Twitter. She talks about this stuff a lot. They really aren't well paid in general. Interesting that your gut reaction was to assume they're greedy rather than do 5 minutes research to find out if you were right.

@Octomore Absolutely. And a testament to the glaring lack of critical thinking you come across all the time on here, and by extrapolation, in wider society. It’s woeful, just woeful.

So I was ready to go all guns vlazing but I acn see many posters have alredy answered that questions.

@TheMindfulMum in the current circumstances, its fair to say that no ne would star a strike if it wasn't needed. Can you imagine the uproar if they did?

What it shows though is that many professions that used to be seen as 'very good earnings' are not doing at that anymore. It's barristers/lawyers, doctors (many of which are chosing to immigrate instead), dentists (who are all going private instead) etc etc

It's dangerous. Because if those well trained people are paid so little, why should anyone else paid well? Surely they should be paid even less....

Btw unlike some PP who obvioulsy like to kick someone who is down, I'd say that @TheMindfulMum has a pretty normal reaction.

Lawyers and barristers have ALWAYS been portrayed as well earning people. Just like doctors have alwyas been portrayed as very well earning profesionals. Except that a junior doctor (the one you will see in A&E, will take life and death decision on your health etc...) is paid ....£1700 a month.

The issue here isn't that the OP didn't do any research. The issue is that we STILL constantly hear that those professionals are well paid and that they are asking too much. The issue is the barrage of lies we constantly under from some of the pres and the government. Barrage of lies aimed at making people in general think that people striking are unreasonnable.
Just like we've had MPs saying the RMT striking was unacceptable because train drivers are paid £50k+ a year so they shouldn't complain. Forgetting that it's not the train drivers that are on strike....

People are being manipulated and and it's working.

Op listen to ‘The Secret Barister’ it’s a book but they did a good little series on it on radio 4 recently. They work insane hours a lot of it not paid! X

Lawyers and barristers have ALWAYS been portrayed as well earning people.

This is true, but even the most cursory read of an article in the media today would have provided information on criminal barrister's pay.

If someone is going to publicly accuse a whole group of people of being "greedy", I think they should at least go to the trouble of, say, reading the article that's on the front page of the BBC news website.

Why on earth would you start a thread like this without doing some very basic research ?

God OP, I’m mortified for you. Ask to have the h to read deleted and learn a lesson for the future.

Ffs
It's no wonder the country is in such a state when people like you vote.

You're right.
I shouldn't have been so hard on the OP. She has been manipulated and groomed by a pack of lies.

I thought they were well paid but greed isn't workers going on strike. It's folk like Sunak's billionairess wife being a non dom. That is truly sickening. Its greed personified.

im not one to get political you should have added ‘except where I know fuck all about what I’m going to rant about

@TheMindfulMum , I always have so much respect and admiration for someone who can have a thought, post it, see the feed back, and adjust their thinking reasonably. We can't all know everything, we do as humans work largely on assumptions, you're no more at fault of that than other humans. I didn't know they were striking, and had similar assumptions that they were well paid, but I've also now learned about them because of your post!

UNITE has had 3rd sector membership since, well, before it was UNITE - I joined in 1981!