to think that yesterday's strikes were a bit of a non-event?

[grovel]

Whether you supported them or not?

LeQueen you are coming access as rather spiteful and jealous of teachers on this thread and others - do you mean to?

I feel lequeen has come across how a lot of the country feel.

Alibaba what does actually striking really mean?
Picket lines have strict limits on numbers, so everyone striking can't go on them - or you could say on an hourly rota. Even quite a long march would only last say 2.5 hours. So why shouldn't someone spend a couple of hours shopping?
LeQueen who on earth picks their career on the basis of it being impossible to be sacked for incompetence?!

iggi - do you really think that the people ramming the shops had been to a march or were heading to one?

Some yes, and those people I have respect for and fully support, but those who just wanted an extra day off to do the Christmas shopping I don't support, not at all.

Why should people on strike not go shopping? The whole point is that they are withdrawing their labour. They can choose to do what they want with that time. You can picket and go on a march and still have time to do some shopping.

Besides, by spending money they're boosting the economy and helping people to stay in employment. Surely this is a good thing?

flippinada, I think the point might be that the strikers were only out in the first place because it was convenient for Crimbo shopping.

Not my view.

Well my fun day off cost me a day's pay, and my husband the same

on the face of it, it would seem a pretty steep price to pay just for an afternoon off to shop

of course, if you begin from a premise that public sector workers are not only greedy but stupid, it is probably plausible hmm

Is so so easy to be dismissive if it doesn't affect you isn't it

Massive rally in Sheffield, thousands there. Was noisy but peaceful and I saw no jeering or unpleasantness from either side.

Saw some picket lines at the hospitals and universities.

Most schools in the city were closed.

So it caused disruption, not a nine event here.

However the shops and nearby Meadowhall were incredibly busy, so retail should have benefitted!

A very eloquent woman on Jeremy Vine's Radio 2 show really stuck it to a nurse on yesterday's show. The nurse was whinging that she was on £40,000 a year and would be expected to pay extra contributions to retire on £30k a year. The caller told her she was a private sector worker on £14,500 pa and not only could she not afford to contribute to a pension fund but she wasn't able to heat her home last year and wouldn't be able to heat it this year.

Well, if Lequeen is saying what other people are thinking then it simply means more people are wrong.

If anyone gets into teaching for the 'short' days and holidays and simply wants an easy life, they wouldn't last very long.

And no, I'm NOT saying it's the hardest job in the world, or that other people don't work as hard or harder. However, there are certainly plenty of jobs that are easier/less stressful.

For the record, I went to a rally, on a short march and then went out for a late lunch. Is that allowed? Or should I have stood somewhere with a sign for 8 hours?

if you begin from a premise that public sector workers are not only greedy but stupid, it is probably plausible

I have to say that if you are a member of Unite, today your union made you look pretty dumb for paying their wages. Get another union...

Pretty big event in my town, the Uni I work for had to shut and there was a big march. Not looking forward to the reduced pay packet but there you go.

LeQueen - if teaching is so fab you are perfectly free to qualify and become one. Nothing is stopping YOU from gaining all those benefits after all.

And it wasn't just teachers striking! Just that most people notice them more as no school inconveniences them more. But tbh causing nconvenience is part of the point of a strike!

People tend to focus on teachers because that's what they notice. People tend not to be bothered pay attention if it doesn't affect them directly.

Unison doesn't represent teachers

*unison not unite.

I am also dumb.

We have a teacher at my school who went into teaching it seems for LeQueen's reasons. She is on route to failing her NQT year (if the school don't manage to convince her to quit teaching altogether first), and if she does will never be allowed to teach in a state school again.

Not my view either grovel.

What's Unite done, Nicey? How have they made people 'look stupid'?

I am a teacher and I was working yesterday. We had no absent colleagues.

At DH's work, he didn't particularly notice anyone off to look after children. There was certainly no disruption to the business. I think there was enough notice that everyone was able to make arrangements.

Unison have been a bit daft about Clarkson's comments.

X post Nicey. I wondered what you meant there!

Bit of a non-event as in, not all that likely to achieve it's desired result. So a lot of people in the public sector lost a days pay, but if they think that alone will be enough to keep their current pension deal, they are very mistaken.

One day strikes rarely achieve anything. Especially when your employer doesn't really lose anything by you withdrawing your labour. (It's not their employers they are causing problems for, but the general public, you need to really piss them off if you want to force them to make the government give you want you want, one day off isn't going to cause hundreds of thousands of voters to complain to their MP, now a month off, that might get the public screaming to give you what you want).

Lots of nurses on £40000 I don't think. You don't retire on 3/4 of your salary either.

While I can't stand JC I do think that the Unison response has been OTT.