To say suck it up like the rest of us???

[ticktickticktickBOOM]

I come from a socialist family, we had striking miner's kids living with us for respite during the strikes. However, the railway unions are taking the pee aren't they? Transport workers aren't the only people taking a hit right now. What about the 100's of thousands of hospitality, leisure, carer and charity workers in bars, cafe's, restaurants, theme parks, swimming pools, hotels, campsites, working in supporting all our children and elderly relatives etc that are getting between tiny and zero wage increases yet have no option but to carry on and make ends meet. Why can't railway workers see the problems they are going to cause and why can't they see that they are IN THE SAME BOAT AS EVERYONE ELSE (except the wealthy obvs).

YABU - striking railway workers are more deserving of pay increases than the rest of us

YANBU - we need to pull together and see every member of society through this and not cause each other harm

vast not bastards

YABU.

But you’re being an arse and trying to cause shit writing they’re ‘more deserving’ as well you know. Many people deserve decent pay rises and conditions and if they want to strike, I’d support them too.

I didn’t vote because I don’t agree with either statement.

i support the rail union because they’re strong, and we need some strong unions in this country to support workers rights. We are going to need them more than ever in coming years.

if all unions had the power of the rail unions, we would have much better working conditions. So, I support them. It’s petty to want to drag others down because they are fighting for their livelihood.

I'm in support, and if more industries took action/ were unionised, no one would be being asked to suck up anything.

sorry for being one of the arseholes who is actually massively conveniences by a) the ever increasing cost of travelling by train but apparently they still need more more more and b) not being one of the socialist middle class people on this site who actually can’t afford to keep being fucked over by these strikes

it’s all very well people who don’t rely on these services to pick up their justice crusade against the tories while us poor cunts suffer ay

If workers and unions in this country actually stood together for better rights and conditions then we wouldn't have crap like zero hours contracts and piss poor pay as standard.

Applauds.

YABU and your statements are so leading that I suspect you’re also being paid. We had enough of this with Brexit, we’re not going to be conned into this shit again. Everyone deserves good pay and working conditions. Everyone should join a Union.

Your voting options are ridiculous and show that you don’t understand the issue.

The massive problem with any strikes is that they are always, always portrayed as being about pay when it's rare for that to be the only (or even main) reason. The media (probably with a bit of government pressure) generally only talk about the money, not undermining of agreements, loss of jobs or worsening of working conditions. Far better to demonize those on strike so the public have zero sympathy.

Postal workers are due to strike. I guarantee it will be reported as being over pay. Actually, it's to far more to do with Sunday working becoming mandatory and being forced to deliver all the post every day regardless of contracted working hours with no overtime pay and no consideration at all of impact on other caring commitments. They will have no idea from one day to the next when they will have finished their work, and family life is being eroded.

Sunday working can be brought in as mandatory for new workers who know what they are signing up to, but is unreasonable to force on workers who may well have looked elsewhere for jobs had Sundays been in the original job description. Sunday is the only day we all have together as a family. And dh's end time of 3pm means he can just about collect the children from school (as a teacher myself, I cannot do so.) Enforcing these things will cause a massive problem.

Pay is not the point.

Posties have just been given a 2% rise and on the whole are okayish with it ("sucking it up") as we are all pretty much in the same boat.

But in the media, it's always "dispute about pay."

You don't even understand the arguments, OP.

The whole OP is so basic.

oh gosh imagine someon

It's not just about pay though, it's about working conditions. The rail companies are making massive profits on the backs of the workers and passengers; they're laughing all the way to the off-shore bank.

Everyone who works deserves a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, so I fully support the rail, BT and Royal Mail strikes.

I always said I wouldn't strike as a teacher but after more than a decade of real terms pay cuts, it's with a heavy heart that I will be voting to strike when my union ballots in the autumn.

sorry I actually didn’t mean to post that!!

I work in the industry but in the private sector and everyone who works for private companies are getting cost of living increases. Let's not shit on the ones who aren't.

Railway workers haven't darfur they are more deserving than anyone else. They are fighting their employer for their terms. They are supposed to sit around on their arses until the general strike are they?

Your "socialist" credentials, to say nothing about theory, appeal to have slipped. Maybe instead of congratulating yourself ( or your parents? ) on the selflessness of taking in poor miners children, you could do a refresher course on solidarity?

It’s not a race to the bottom

You're angry at the wrong people OP.

Railway workers aren't striking because they think that they deserve pay rises more than other sectors. Their unions have been effective at using their power which is the point of a union.

I sympathise with people who have been inconvenienced by the strikes and are in jobs where there's no unions to advocate for them but railway workers taking effective pay cuts because of inflation helps nobody either.

If you think that the strikers are the problem then you have fallen for the propaganda. The pandemic demonstrated beautifully how we are not all in this together and the people at the top want us fighting amongst each other so they can become richer by claiming pay rises, removing the cap on bankers bonuses, award government contracts to party donors etc. If we were all in this together then we would have seen more leaders rejecting pay rises and accepting temporary pay cuts for the greater good but austerity is only for those at the bottom.

The subservient attitude of many people if this country when it comes to employment genuinely baffles me sometimes.

Unpaid overtime expected and accepted in many jobs, pressure to work when ill, blaming colleagues for increased workload or feeling 'guilt' about leaving colleagues to cover absenses when the problem is understaffing, and bitterly complaining when other workers try to enforce their contracts/improve their working conditions.

We're all so easily manipulated into blaming each other. How about supporting people to push back/upward so we can improve things for everyone?

Of course YABU but not for the reason you say. One set of workers is striking for better pay and for work conditions and contractual obligations not to severely deteriorate tat the cost to their safety and work/life balance. This doesn't mean they are more deserving than other shafted workers. It means they deserve respect from their bosses with regard to their work conditions, and fair pay for the work they do.

I'm so tired of this divide and rule mentality. Like when people kick uni lecturers for striking, totally unaware that some of them are on £17ph zero hours contracts, and not paid for the enormous amount of prep and planning or for the essential research they contribute towards.

It’s not a race to the bottom, don’t be a tit.

I didn't vote, the options were goady and dumb.

Wealth inequality is such a massive problem in this country, and it's a problem that has got worse over covid. Of course all those in the jobs listed also deserve a pay rise. Unfortunately without unions most will never strike but I would have no problem if they did.

I hate to see how you cope when everyone else, including carers and nurses strike too.

If every sector of society was striking to get a wage increase then we would send the country into bankruptcy. We simply cannot sustain the level of borrowing required.