5 week strike. What’s that all about then?

[Sep200024]

Just wondering about the logistics of this more than anything, really.

How many people can afford to go 5 weeks without pay? Is that really what this means?

How come such a huge discrepancy in length of time compared to the sporadic 1 or 2 days strike action in other areas?

I get that 5 weeks will have a bigger impact, but you could say that about any of the other industries striking too.

I just don’t see where 5 weeks came from as a length of time. Seems so random!

I read that some unions pay people while they're on strike.

Maybe they all got their passports sorted whilst at work so fancy a nice 5 week break in the sun.

Beezknees unions usually have a hardship fund to give something to members who are really struggling. No union pays staff their wage when striking.

I see. Not in a union myself so not sure how it works.

So what will all these people do for 5 weeks??

It’s a long time to wave a placard about.

Oh many on strike haven’t been doing that! DHs friends wife decorated their spare bedroom during the strike yesterday and on Wednesday she took her children to the zoo for the day.

I imagine they’ll use their 5 weeks leisure time as they see fit. I very much doubt they will be stood on picket lines for 5 weeks.

Blimey, that’s a long time to go without money.

Plenty of sympathy here for people feeling they have no choice but to strike.
NOT.

No wonder we have had years of tory rule, going by these attitudes.

I don’t particularly have any strong feelings against the principle of the strike.

I am just wondering why 5 weeks??

Because it's over Easter and they want a nice long break. Their pay might be a bit shit, but their t&C's are amazing. I just looked at the t&C's for the most junior role. Flexible, full time or part time. WFH. Long holidays. Great pension. Etc etc.

Strike PAY. My daughter's school were striking for 2 days this week . They shut the whole school if you wanted to strike or not . You get strike pay which is what unions pay to cover basic needs .this is why they could shut the whole school for 2 days and basic needs pay is given.
However the primary school I work in have said if you strike you wont get paid but non striking teachers that attend will obviously get paid.

It's not exactly unusual for employers to offer both full and part time jobs. In fact everywhere I have ever worked has employed people both f/t and p/t.

Do you really see this as a major perk?

So yes if I get my basic needs covered I'll happily strike for 5 weeks somewhere hot hopefully

Agreed. Some of these comments are depressingly ignorant.

Anyone who thinks that someone in a low band passport office job (earning £22,400, or £25,750 for the next band up) who will be getting only a basic minimum of strike hardship pay is doing it so they can go on a 5 week holiday is thick as pig shit, frankly. Either that or a right wing goady fucker.

I don't care who that offends.

(Actually, that £22,400 is for an AO salary, so that's not the lowest band. An AA will be lower.)

A few facts:

PCS (the union) have a strike fund to cover people’s lost wages. They have covered peoples wages for the odd day strike but I’m not sure if they intend to cover all 5 weeks worth for 1000 people but they might do. And so what if they do? It’s other civil servants who are paying that levy not you

The civil service has flexi and wfh contracts but these are role dependent and not automatic.

The pay for a lot of roles is shit. Something like 40% of pcs members are on uc.

PCS have only recently introduced a levy to support the strike fund, so they almost certainly won't be providing blanket strike pay for 5 weeks.

I think it's likely to be on a case by case basis, according to need (I.e. a hardship fund people can apply for).

Something like 40% of pcs members are on uc.

Our government should be ashamed of this. How is it OK for the government to pay wages that aren't enough for people to live on and need topping up with benefits?

You get strike pay which is what unions pay to cover basic needs .this is why they could shut the whole school for 2 days and basic needs pay is given.

This isn't true for teachers. There's a hardship fund you can apply to if needed but mostly teachers are not being paid to strike.

The NEU was pretty explicit that the hardship fund wasn’t for strikes.

Also, unlike other sectors, the government haven't even deigned to pretend that the are negotiating on civil service pay. The Cabinet Office have simply refused to talk to the unions.

If the other side refuses to even talk to you, what are the options available?

The government treats the civil service with contempt, and this is the result. Rather than blaming the poor sods who are just trying to be paid a fair rate for their work, blame the ones who have driven them to this.

They will probably go on a nice holiday

🙄

I refer you to my comments above.

I assume it has to be long enough to cause a proper backlog and hurt people and the holiday industry or holiday insurance industry? It is exactly at that time period when people are desperate to renew passports especially for children which have to be renewed every 5 years.

Off to check the holiday insurance terms and conditions to see if you are covered if you can’t renew passports due to strike action!