To think that nurses who choose to strike over pensions will not get any sympathy from the general public??

[McQueasy]

Unison have voted to strike on the 30th, this means that nurses within that union have the choice to participate. As a result of this the NHS may have to operate as an 'emergency only' service for the day. Cancelling routine work, clinics, operations etc.

The governments pension proposals are ridiculous, in essence the average worker will pay between £50-£200 a month more towards their pension in what is realistically a levy. They will not see a penny of that when they retire (if they ever are allowed to retire as the age or retirement gets pushed back and back)

However, as operations, clinics and routine work is cancelled in an already stretched system, I cant help but think that public sympathy for this strike will be minimal.

Lassylass sounds like a pillock.

I support them. Personally I think nurses are the last people who deserve a drop in pay in the form of pension cuts,

Public sector workers are essential. They should be well paid and they aren't but they have accepted low pay in return for a pension further down the line. They contribute a significant amount of their pay for this pension.

I wish a long and happy retirement with a good pension for every public sector worker who arrived at that pile up on the M5 on Friday night - the paramedics, fire service staff, police, nurses at the receiving hospitals et al - and wish the same for all those who do it time after time, day after day.

lassylass

'And as a private sector worker, my opinion counts, because I'm paying for the fucking things'

Thanks for your honesty.

Nurses could easily leave the NHS to work in the private sector and expect considerably higher wages.
So, if the pension they are expecting is being cut then surely they should expect a wage rise. Not a freeze of their increments as is the current situation.

I had expected some hostility towards the strike for reasons such as yours.

I have to ask though, if your private pension was asking you to contribute an extra £200 per month to keep your pension outcomes the same (if not lower) would you not be investigating their breech of contract or at least making a formal complaint? If your pension was tied into your employer then strike action is a perfectly legal course of action.
So do you think in your own profession, being told your pay was being frozen and you were looking at £200 more in fruitless contributions is something you would happily accept without batting an eyelid?

New workers joining the NHS are already being put into a new pension scheme which is no where near the current standard.
The numbers for new applications to nursing are falling, courses are being cut and cancelled. I know a lot of nurses that would not recommend it as a career to their worst enemy.

If health care professionals were to strike completely (and they would never do that) the country would be crippled.
Unlike when the firefighters were replaced by the army and green goddesses, there would be no way of continuing to run the country safely.
There is no feasible contingency plan to fix that eventuality.

The country is relying on the good will of a great number of people.

I can't remember the last time that I read something on here that has made me so angry.

Lassylass- you are talking utter shit. Just what is 'eye watering' about the new proposed plans?? Im intrigued. How can I get orgasmically excited about a plan that will expect me to work like a fucking dog till I'm about 70 and get less at the end???????

An fairly decent pension is not much to ask. Besides- all we want is what we were promised in 2008. What makes you think that we are so low down on the pecking scale that we should just 'roll over' and accept this? Why the hell should we?

I was watching the news this morning. A labour MP was saying that a part-time nurse (thats me) would be losing £900 per year due to the new pension proposals. I cannot afford to lose that £900. Can anyone?

I think we have all been pretty much stitched up.

"How can I get orgasmically excited about a plan that will expect me to work like a fucking dog till I'm about 70 and get less at the end???????"

Vs the private sector working like a dog till 70 so you can keep your massive pension, token contributions, and retire early.

Public sector workers - self absorbed and feeding at the trough till the very end.

Roll on the cuts.

They will have my support. After all they are the people who'll be wiping my arse when i'm unable to. Lets hope none of them get their hands on you,
lassylass.

They are paid to wipe arses. Its just a job.

Your ignorance and offensiveness is breathtaking, lassylass.

Hardly. I know a lot of nurses and its just a job to them. A choice they made but certainly no sacrifice for the greater good.

They only turn into a bunch of angelic Florence Nightingales when it comes time to talk money.

Im in the RCN. The word ive heard is that we're not 'allowed' to strike its against our moral code.
I have to say that working where i do (ITU) and the fact that we are currently 18 staff short and not allowed to advertise jobs due to the freeze, in fact they are actively seeking peeople to leave to sabe money, i cannot justify striking.

But i wholly support those who do. Yes private sector workers (dh) have had it tougher in the last few years just like the public sector however before that they were living it up with pay rises, bonuses, corporate events, gifts etc etc. we have never had this in nursing, its shit, its always been shit, and always will be, we do it because we want to not because there are any perks. So frankly we are sick of being shafted and im glad that people are not taking it.

I agree there should be a mass strike between doctors, nurses, military personnel, police, firefighters, teachers, bin men, social workers and see how fast the government cave.
I think something similar happened in the Netherlands where 14,000 nurses walked out over some issue and their demands were met within 15 minutes and they went back to work! Now thats people power!

Oh and to the idiot below im not paid to 'just wipe arses' i did a 3 year degree on a pittance, most days i make a difference, somedays i save a life, most days we lose one, most days i cry, some days i laugh, sometimes im assaulted, sometimes im sworn at/hit/bitten/scratched/spat at, some days i am hugged

all that and wiping arses actually

Ooops. Sorry about the typo. Banker not wanker

I would say I make 'a sacifice to the greater good' at least once a week, if not more.

Mosschops no offence intended. I just meant to highlight being a highly trained professional that has to care enough to do the most intimate (and lets face it) stomach -churning things for a person at times. Well that takes a special kind of human being.

Lassylass, old age comes to us all and karma is a bitch

I hope the person that wipes your arse has as much respect for you as you do for their job.

To provide Personal care to someone who can not care for themselves is a privilege. However if you would rather it was viewed as a task, I really do hope you enjoy your infirm years. I would suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself at that point or you may end up with bedsores and a sore, lonely arse

I'm not saying you aren't qualified or don't do a good job.

I'm just saying that you don't deserve better treatment than anyone else, just because you are a nurse, or public sector and the pension has always been good in the past.

Its completely unsustainable and I think most public sector secretly know, unfair on everyone else. They wont let that get in the way of the trough though.

Oh - and private sector "were living it up with pay rises, bonuses, corporate events, gifts etc etc. " is fine, because they aren't asking someone else to pay for it. This is the bit that keeps eluding many posters (or more likely they just dont give a shit).

Those idiots who compare public sector with private sector pensions in an attempt to divide and rule might consider how public sec tor workers got any decent terms and conditions. Not by rolling over for any Tory policy claiming 'we're all in this together'. Bks. They're not in anything with us. Private sector workers should look and learn - go get organised. Support the strikes. Stop the cuts. Go nurses!

Fargate that was clearly a Freudian slip

Lassylass, if your bonuses are not paid for out of public cash in any form where do they come from?

You may be paying for public sector workers but they are providing a service. They are not asking for a bonus or added benefits, simply what their contract and policy with superannuation promised.
You are not paying more, simply the same for a rapidly expanding service

lassy my comment was aimed at you.

On the subject of pensions, thats all public sector workers have ever had, thats our only perk, our only bonus, and we pay into it. We provide a service for the government and the public, and we do it for crap pay, crap hours, crap treatment, and you would happily deny us all a decent pension because you think youre paying for it.
Bollocks, we all pay for far worse than public sector pensions, youre picking on the wrong people, but then bullies always pick on those who they think are below them, but actually seldom are!

The public sector pension is unusual in that there ie no "pot" so to speak of. It's doesn't work like private pension funds, if it did I am informed that it actually is self funded.

The average nurse pension in the current scheme is approx 7-8k. A good nurse will monitor and alert medical staff if a patient is deteriorating and will save a life as well as wiping the odd bottom here or there.

And actually wiping bottoms is a fine art not to be dismissed easily. I couldn't do it for an unrelated adult