Strikes strikes strikes

[Rainyrunway]

So many people are striking at the moment. We're personally affected and having to change plans or appointments by 3 over the next few days (nurses, teachers and engineers at a theme park!) I'm not making a judgement call here btw just putting a personal perspective. Anyone have any idea how or when they'll all end? Obviously they can't go on forever but it feels like if one group reaches a settlement, another group starts.

We're not "poorer" in any meaningful sense, we are just much more unequal and have a government who have no interest in trying to change that.

Over the course of the pandemic, personal wealth in the UK grew by around £900,000,000,000, but for every £1 that went to the bottom 10%, £581 went to the top £10%. We're now in a situation where the top 1% are richer than the bottom 70% combined in the UK. This means 685,000 people are worth more than 48,000,000 people. In monetary terms the 1% could pay off the entire UK national debt and still have £15,000,000 each (if split equally).

You also have to remember that national finances don't work like personal finances. The decision not to fund public services is nothing to do with a "lack of tax/money" it is purley a political choice. Notice whenever there's a national problem that tips towards crisis (covid, energy prices) or a project the government likes the look of (QE line, HS2, the Olympics) the money is there. They don't say "oh sorry, we can't fund this or that because we don't have the cash at hand".

No, they simply borrow and/or create the money and claim the growth/benefit from the scheme/project generates will cover the debt. The government could do the same with public services but they don't want too. This is partly due to their desire to be small state and put as many public services into the hands of private investors as possible (likely to the benefit of many tory mps and doners). But, also partly due to the fact that, to do so, would mean they'd have to admit their 10 years of austerity pre-pandemic, and all the negative impacts that caused, didn't actually achieve what the claimed it would, and was instead a complete and utter failure.

In short there is no need for people earning £30k,£40k, £50k, hell even £150k pa to pay more tax to fund public services better. The only thing that needs to change is government policy.

RMT voted to accept a pay rise of 9.2-14.4%, successfully ending the rail strikes.

Do you call that a strike that didn't work?

None of our teachers are striking though, state school by the way. So how is that representative? Plodding along with Phonics test, SATS as usual. So how will those DC schools fair vs other schools? And let’s not pretend state schools don’t care about league tables.

How is it fair that some kids are still being taught and not others?

I think this was bound to happen. Many people (other than teachers) are really struggling, and when one group is making your life even harder it's difficult to stay compassionate. Especially if it is hitting your own bottom line (unpaid time off work, expensive childcare etc).

I am generally supportive, although I do wonder when/where it will end.

The Royal Mail strikes might be sorted but I know several who aren't happy with the deal tbh

I am supportive of teachers as a whole but because there are different unions and people are effected differently it isn’t really working, the strikes. Because some of the rich areas/schools don’t have teachers in the NEU. The leafy high performing schools are still open where I live at least. Is it the same elsewhere? My DC have not missed a day of school. Can you please clarify this point @noblegiraffe And with declining places in primary already where we live the non striking schools are going to do better. Across the board. They were already going to do better anyway. And so the cycle continues.
Some of the teaching parents at our school are pretty frustrated that our schools are not striking….

Regarding strikes in general, I do think a lot of the public are starting to get a little tired and lose empathy. If you're only affected by one or two striking unions it's not so bad. But when you've had months of being affected by, say, kids off school, hospital appointments being cancelled, important post not turning up, trains not running and then possibly airport disruption, it's understandable that people have had enough. I've definitely noticed the tide slowly turning on some social media platforms.

They're probably going to do better across the board in the wealthy areas because the school budgets are probably being propped up by parental contributions. I've heard that some schools actually ask parents to set up a direct debit for this purpose!

Whether a school has lots of teachers in the NEU or not isn't generally determined by the wealth of the local area, but by whether there's a good union rep or good local support. If the NASUWT rep is good, there may be more teachers in that union. However, there have been tens of thousands of teachers switching to the NEU in order to strike, and the NASUWT, NAHT and ASCL are now gearing up to ballot for strike action too, so schools that have previously been unaffected by strike action may be affected in the future.

The strikes will end if theres a general election and/if the conservative party are removed.

This is the point when the unions will accept whatever offer is on the table and we will return to normality, realising that this was all pollitical and the workers best interests (pay) was never the driving issue.

The unions are damaging themselves being used as political tools which is worrysome.

Utter bollocks, and completely ignorant of the reality of the situation.

Strikes are old news now , selfish as it sounds people who don't have kids in education are not affected.
If the super markets were to strike that would be different as would affect most people.

Time will tell!

Im also part of this reality, so please - keep your bollocks, maybe youll need find a more productive use for them.

This government will never give the workers what they are asking for and what they deserve. The way in which the strikes will 'work' IMO is that they will help to bring into focus for everyone that the Tories badly need to be voted out. When this happens and education, the NHS etc gradually starts to be funded properly again, it should settle.

It's still bollocks.

Here's some reality for you https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4794013-teacher-strikes-are-your-kids-missing-out?reply=125748821

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4790641-what-is-really-going-on-in-our-schools-well-laura

The way out is for people in all professions to be paid a proper wage, most especially key workers!!

You could help by voting for a party that has this understanding at the heart of its policies.

The strikes will end when workers are treated as the valuable resource they are. This probably won't happen until we get rid of this corrupt, contemptuous, Conservative government who are living in an imaginary Unicorn Kingdom.

@Rant46892

I am prepared to pay more tax for better wages in public service.

People say that, but what they really mean is that they expect everyone else to pay more tax. Voters generally want to pay less tax, as per General Election results.

I also think the "don't want to pay tax" brigade is getting bigger. I'm an accountant so my job involves a lot of tax and I've never seen so many clients falling over themselves to cut their tax bills, not just businesses, but also pensioners, buy-to-let owners, people who've retired early on gold plated pensions, wanting tax-free savings returns, etc. It's literally ALL about cutting tax these days. And so many people don't want to pay any tax at all and are willing to take extreme measures to avoid it, such as risky investments, risky off shore trusts, emigration, and even happy to illegally evade tax by not declaring income, etc. Some new clients expect me to advise them as to how to illegally evade tax and look very disappointed when I tell them our services are limited to legal tax planning!

It's 40 years this Summer since my first job as an accountant. Go back to those days and it was nothing like it is now. Yes, people would save a bit of tax if they could by making minor "tweaks" and yes, there were people who illegally evaded tax, but nothing on the wholesale scale we see today. Clients would generally accept that they had tax to pay and really only wanted our advice to check they weren't paying more than they had to. There simply wasn't this "race to the bottom" to pay as little as possible.

I'm happy that I'm close to retirement as I really don't like working like that, it feels morally wrong to me, I've never worked anywhere that was involved in the hard sell of the dodgy tax avoidance schemes, etc.

One of the most memorable clients was actually a teacher, he was also the school's union rep so did very little actual teaching. He set up a side-line business based around his hobby. For years, it made tiny profits, he basically just ran it to pay for the equipment he needed, which he'd have bought anyway for his hobby, so he just got other people to pay for his hobby by selling services to them. But a few years before retirement, he started to really push the business because he wanted it to produce an income to supplement his pension. He really didn't like it when I showed him his tax bill as the business profit had pushed him into 40% higher rate tax, and he went on a right rant about "why should I pay 40% of my hard earned work" etc - well, matey, join the real World! Ironic really that he was a union rep and local Labour party activist who'd been campaigning "tax the rich" etc.

@leilani83 if your post was aimed at me (which I think it was as you quoted me) I have never voted Tory in my life! I did make the mistake of voting for the LibDems when they lied about their plans for tuition fees so yes, since they supported the Tories with their austerity plans, then I admit I am partly to blame and regret it. But ONLY because they bloody lied! I have been labour / green every other time.

A country that doesn't invest in its young people is screwed.

You want a Victorian society where the lucky few inherit, then vote Conservative. We are just ruled by older, greedy people who are less well motivated than their parents who, having been through a war and total poverty, voted for properly funded public services.

The boomer generation talk a good game but they are vastly more self interested than their own parents. They will argue about the value of teachers, when every other healthy society knows children need a good accessible and well funded education.

One of the most memorable clients was actually a teacher, he was also the school's union rep so did very little actual teaching.

That's not how being a union rep in a school works, casting doubt on the rest of your anecdote.

I'm an accountant so my job involves a lot of tax and I've never seen so many clients falling over themselves to cut their tax bills

And despite being an accountant you didn't think that this could possibly be linked to the cost of living crisis?

People who go to accountants to reduce their tax bills tend to be well off.

And yet their costs may have increased, just like everyone else's.

This is exactly my feelings!!!!

I say that because I would be unhappy if I was my child’s maths teacher…. And I have taught maths. And I’m a music teacher. Contrary to what everybody says they don’t go hand in hand.

fund the pay increase and I’ll stop striking!!!!

Sure, but everyone else pays their taxes.