To think that people should be allowed to strike

[Kissmybaubles]

I get it causes inconvenience, and there has been lots of strikes lately Royal Mail, railway, nurses and now paramedics.

I caught on the news this morning that the government are looking to put a stop to strikes. I just don’t think it’s right to take aways peoples right to strike… These people work hard and deserve a decent wage.

AIBU?

I’m surprised more trades aren’t striking to be honest. I work in the care industry and staff morale has been down since covid, staff turn around is high and we are constantly short staffed (dangerously so most of the time) There were talks in the media of how carers should be paid more during the pandemic but nothing ever came of it. The care home loses staff to places like Asda who pay more for a job with less stress and responsibility (it’s a no brainier). So the care industry is on its arse…

I have friends that work for the NHS and while they get paid more than care homes conditions still aren’t great.

And yeah fuck the tories!

Do people think the Police, Priston Service and Armed Forces should also have the right to strike? Or is the reason for their ban rightful?

How will thry achieve the pay and working conditions without striking? Lobbying and demonstrating hasn't worked. So what would you have them do?

Yes I support the strikers.

Average wages have stagnated for decades while top job wages have grown massively. CEOs paid several times what they were even two decades ago whilst the average wages has not risen by anywhere near as much. It's obscene.

Difficult one; I believe in the right to strike, but if someone I love dies through lack of medical treatment then I will hate the strikers who caused it.

I believe in the right to strike but it only really works with monopolies or public sector organisations where there's no alternative routes to trade.

Which is why I'm looking forward to posties / cwu realising they've scored a massive own goal destroying the very company that employs them. I'm sure there'll be lots of jobs for redundant posties with evri, yodel etc where trade has moved, so I won't cry too hard for them. They won't have their cushy union negotiated terms there though.

"You should only accept certain jobs if you understand the importance to society, "

If a job is important to society then perhaps the people doing it should be paid and treated well.

Fair enough nhs workers

But not Royal Mail or train workers - they do this every year

Don't like your pay and conditions- then leave

Most of the rest of us aren't getting inflation level pay rises oh and our employers are actually profitable businesses unlike Royal Mail and many train companies

Most letter post is junk mail. Documents can be scanned sent and even signed electronically these days, more and more will be now.

The vast majority of people have access to email.

As much as it go against my libertarian views, no I don't think they should. Work to rule, yes..hold the country to ransom by striking from critical roles no. If you don't like your job there's plenty more out there.

In most jobs you have the ability to withdraw your labour by going to work elsewhere if you are unhappy. That's what I usually do anyway.

I understand for certain professions especially public sector this is not always an option though.

If everyone thought like this there’s be no nurses left. I’m glad we’re striking and not all just packing it in and leaving.

My husband is a postie and we were talking about the Christmas Eve strikes.

He is feeling very conflicted about that day.

Royal Mail staff don't want to be on strike as I am sure is the case with other union backed professionals

It's a case of trying to stop the race to the bottom and to ensure that companies pay their staff a fair wage.

People in work shouldn't be reliant on UC etc. to protect company and shareholder profits

Genuine question, is your hubby not worried that Royal Mail will be absolutely decimated by these strikes leading to job insecurity? Is he not worried that the business is losing custom to other couriers now and they won't necessarily return to Royal Mail.

I'm only one person, but I'm a small business seller on ebay and will definitely stay with yodel after all this, cheaper ams more reliable.

@Metabigot he is worried about job security. Part of why he's striking

Owner drivers mean that people would be given ever increasing amounts of drops to complete

There are other delivery companies out there. They are struggling and have backlog of parcels which is being widely reported

I'm an AHP working fir the NHS. I only recently graduated therefore my bursary only got reinstated in my final year. This is one issue...to be a AHP or a nurse you have 3+ years of gruelling, expensive training which puts people off.I put in my all and got a 1st.

On graduation as a band 5 you start on 25, 000 pa which is just about acceptable BUT there are consequences to your decisions that can affect patient outcomes, we have 30 mins lunch, if we definately do not want to work a weekend we have to take it as annual leave. People are leaving to earn more as locum so we are short staff...recruiting internationally as there aren't enough in this country. Also AHP are leaving to get jobs in other sectors where there isn't the same level of responsibility and better pay/ conditions. This is the 1st hospital where I havn't been bullied.

So yes. I do support the strikes but I will not be striking as like many of my colleagues, we don't want to risk patient care so we cannot bring ourselves to do it. The government have relied on our bleeding hearts for too long.

Interesting how as nursing is mostly seen as a female, nurturing, role, they have been overlooked for so long.

Good job I adore my current role but sadly i can't work for buttons forever.

Is he not worried that the business is losing custom to other couriers now and they won't necessarily return to Royal Mail

That problem is for the business owners, not the workforce. At least in a situation where there is also a labour shortage.

Absolutely agree with the right to strike and am fundamentally opposed to any reduction in these rights.

In my local NHS nobody even bothered to vote to strike or not. We didn't even get the required 50%.

I agree to the right to strike as a principle.

BUT if it endagers life (doctors, paramedics, ....) or security (police & prison services) I am on the fence.

I think if anything preventive would happen to a loved one during strike action I'd resent the strikers.

On the flip side, the government should pay a decent wage to people who are supplying these services, then there wouldn't be any need to strike.

How should nurses for instance lobby for better pay and conditions of the right to strike is removed? The government have rejected their pay demand and striking is a lad t resort as they have literally tried everything else. I really do hate the way the right wing press are trying (and faoling) to present nurses as some sort of militant job wanting to bring misery to millions when a couple of years ago we were all clapping for carers including those advocating for pay restraint now.

There hasn't a strike of core life and death emergency health care workers in hospital. It's the elective stuff that may get.postponed.

If anything, I just wish people had been this angry ten years ago, but alas, most people seemed to agree with austerity and the ideological dismantling of public services, and went along with freezing salaries or derisory increases, and nodded along to the super rich getting exponentially richer while living standards fell for everyone else.

I support the right to strike and that public sector workers deserve a decent payrise. However I think the percentages seem incredibly high, would there still be the support for them if the government offered 19% across the board but the whole country had to pay 10% more income tax to pay for it? I wonder if there would be the same support if private sector workers went on strike if mechanics went on strike or all supermarkets shut for a week.

Striking Royal Mail and rail workers are just signing their own redundancy cheques. Would I balls use Royal Mail now when there are so many more reliable options. Passenger numbers have gone through the floor since WFH and it wouldn't even cross my mind to use a train when planning a trip now, it would have been default option before.

I feel like there should be a limit. For instance the train strikes have been endless for years. As a result they have bloated pay packets in comparison to their skills. NHs strikes are few and far between. One of the reasons we are payed so badly for our level of skills x , How else are we supposed improve our pay conditions. If we aren’t allowed to strike then there needs to be other ways to improve things but there doesn’t seem to be. I am not even striking by the way. I am NHS on the same pay and conditions but not a nurse. I have been on strike once in my entire 20 year career.