AIBU Public sector workers generally

[Privatesectorworkers]

I’ve changed user names for this…..

I read a post today regarding public sector workers & how hard done by they feel. This instance its Teachers (just an example). I feel increasingly frustrated how these workers (general, not just teachers) harp on about how hard done by they are.

I appreciate it’s a hard job but you couldn’t get away with it in our sector.

I do also know that a lot of my hostility lies over being an unrecognised key worker during covid so perhaps this is tainting my view.

I don’t understand how much they get away with. In terms of absence, pay etc.

Some people work unfortunately in not so well paid, qualified positions (as I do) but there are other factors that keep me in my place of work. I am lucky to have good colleagues, work close to home etc.

Can they not just find some consolidation that they are in the career of their choosing, I would hope they wanted to have a positive impact in the education & enjoy the caring nature of this role?

I don’t understand what has changed so much AIBU?

For me the most undervalued workers during the pandemic were the supermarket workers and delivery drivers who turned up daily to be exposed to the general public when there was very little knowledge just how safe they were going to be. They were not provided with adequate PPE, or training for it to effective.
They were key workers .

I understand that you feel unrecognised OP, but you were able to safely shield you and your family while still able to do your job.

Teachers were expected to supervise children of key workers so were not at home. They had to try and provide as much education as possible to their students. It must have been incredibly frustrating keeping the pupils engaged via email.

Then on their return, having to face classrooms full of potentially infected children. Every day must have felt like Russian roulette and again wearing scant PPE. While you sat at home running a wages programme once a week/month, made even more simple with furlough, because there was no overtime or adjustments to make.
I used to do my own payroll when I had my own business. It’s not exactly rocket science.

I'm not having a go at teachers, but there are a lot of very high-up management level people in the public service who are thick as bricks to be kind.
I personally know of a lady who was appointed the head of a department because she organised a charity day. She was sacked after 3 years but WTF?

I don’t know how anyone can think a sit on your arse all day job is harder than a public facing one nowadays with the crap standards of behaviour there is.

Honestly though .... You work in HR. What do you actually do?

Sit at a desk and answer questions, but really just applying protocols / rules.

It sounds like a gift, but also sounds like an AI program could do it.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Ok. Fact check incoming.
Public sector worker here.
Nurse, specifically.
i wasn’t furloughed.
I had a pre-teen, a teen doing A levels & an Autistic young adult at home.

Oh yeah, and I kept people alive during Covid.

It is unfortunate that you feel salty because you spent lockdown arranging the furlough pay for 300 of your colleagues who were off work enjoying the lovely sunshine.

The trust I work for has a plaque of remembrance with the names of colleagues who died from Covid.
(FWIW its not a small plaque)

Perhaps this would have been your preferred lockdown colleague experience?
No?
I thought not.

Your post is self-absorbed & thoughtless.

You are part of a growing issue of societal self-centred entitlement.
This is another reason I want to quit nursing. I’m all peopled out.

Agree with this, especially the supermarket workers.

Band 2 NHS worker here

Until the end of October, I'm on NMW and after October, I'll be on NMW and £100pm

I was never furloughed it was rough

I'm working in a GP surgery now and it's shit - too many patients chasing too few appointments because primary care, it's funding and management has gone down the toilet

My 'gold plated' pension is currently calculated to be less than £5k per annum, as my wages are so low

The 'bargain' was that public sector employees worked at lower rates than private as we had good pensions and benefits at the end of it all, but private sector employees were paid better than us and were able to save more.

Somewhere along the line, that went out the window

Oh boo hoo. You were upset that you weren’t furloughed during covid? If was FOUR fucking years ago. Get over it. So you thought you’d take out your anger on public sector workers, some of the hardest working and most at risk people during the pandemic? Fuck off frankly.

Bet you could work from home and did not work as a nurse in a hospital full of Covid patients dying. You can not compare a job like yours with mine ( critical care nurse). Of course I chose it as a career - i love it , but dealing with families sitting with their dying relative is really really hard. Stop bashing public sector workers - generally their jobs are really hard and they don’t get paid enough

As a council worker for city public library I can assure everyone that we are not lazy, our role is not just about library work but a whole range of customer facing roles including providing tourist information about the area, helping customers with computer issues, delivering business start ups and intellectual property one to one advice and seminars, organising and delivering children's storytime sessions and summertime reading challenges, helping with research on family history etc,
I

I got called a cunt today, and was told to go fuck myself. My crime? Asking a 16 year old to stop vaping on site.

A female colleague was punched in the face by a teenager last month.

And no, it's not a PRU. It's mainstream education.

I'm guessing that doesn't happen in accounts...

What an ill-informed post. Wrong on every count.

Well, go and get a job in the public sector if you think the terms and conditions are so great.

Every public sector worker I know seems to work long hours and have little time off sick. The policy might be generous, but my mates don't seem to be abusing it.

They are also paid less well than if they worked for a private company.

The ONLY gripe I would have is the pay they quote, isn't their pay. I've not asked in detail but there seem to be bands of pay (which appears to be what they say they are on) and then added payments for different responsibilities etc. They deserve the pay, but ought to quote what they earn including these extras.

Otherwise, thank goodness they do the jobs they do. Where would we be if they didn't?

What utter crap. I’m a “council worker” and that description couldn’t be further from the truth. Your ignorance of the vast range of jobs council workers do is embarrassing.

I would not go near a teaching job. Not for all the money in the world, and I am saying this as a mental health nurse who has spent most of my career in camhs secure inpatient units. So I feel I'm a pretty resilient person- but the experiences described ? No thanks.
( I heard the Sky News report yesterday about the widespread trauma and stress they are experiencing. )

Unseen key worker!!!

I wasn’t furloughed during COVID, thank God! Being furloughed wasn’t a perk. I work with vulnerable groups but I didn’t need the ‘key worker’ tag to somehow elevate my status.

I work in the public sector as station staff for TfL. I do ok. But the street cleaning person who sweeps the road outside my station is also in the public sector and I bet they'd love to have better pay & conditions.

Not me but my boss has to deal with a LOT of red tape and procedures and all that nonsense a public body has to abide by, as previously described by others. Taxpayer money is much more scrutinized now, post-pandemic.

I also went to work throughout the pandemic. I lost many colleagues and one friend at work nearly died. This was true of many public sector workers. Whilst we remember those who didn't make it, we've moved on.

I also had a teenager at home trying to do her GCSEs at home during the pandemic. She was obviously affected by it mentally, and most kids that age were.

People think we should look at the person with the least protections and say, yes, THAT'S the ideal, when really we should be trying to improve everyone's lot at work. Research says over & over again that a happy employee is a productive one. If uou aren't happy OP do something about it? We shouldn't ever say the race to the bottom is ok.

I don't understand your original post but I hope It've responded appropriately.

We are both local government and Nhs. Neither furloughed both worked through the whole damn thing.

The sickness policy as a previous nurse stated is not as easy as people believe, we absolutely do get attendance managed and then can’t be off for a certain period if we hit very low targets. Not many take the piss with the 6 months on the wards i’ve worked! The longest i’ve had off in twenty years is two weeks. My partner had taken one day sick in the 13 years i’ve known him.

Not sure what we got away with…..

Yes it’s a job i chose but that doesn’t make it easy and it gets that bit harder every year, working with the public and how people treat each other also gets worse every year. I’d invite anyone to come for a week and tell us we have it easy because we have a pension ( changed by the Tories) holidays and sick pay! Yes they used to be incentives but many private workforces also offer decent sick pay and holidays nowadays.

I’ll agree that management structures need to change! Too many bosses not enough on the ground!

Firefighter. I hope you will appreciate them more when you need them. Also they retire early (55 i think) because the job is so wearing on tbe body. There's an icreased risk of cancers due to the chemicals in burning materials. Visit the Fire Brigades Union website to learn more.

Wtf did you get 33 days + 8 BH from?

WFH has been found to increase productivity.

Utter nonsense.

Tell me that you read and believe the Daily Mail without actually saying it 🤣

I am currently working with someone who has come from the private sector and won't stop moaning. She doesn't like the fact that you have to bring in your own tea, coffee and milk. Also that you have to pay for your own Christmas party. She can't get her head around the extra (unpaid) hours we work so we can keep the service functioning. We also need to use our cars about three times a month to do various visits and we get no compensation for this you have to pay for petrol.
As for all the time off I'm supposed to have when I'm ill well that's hilarious. If I don't come in it's because I physically can't.

If you want to train to do my public sector job you'll need a degree, two years post grad and then a further three years in post training.
I worked all through the pandemic.

If I worked in payroll I'd be more concerned about AI rather than public sector workers.

I’m a teacher (secondary).

Got into work at 7.15, tried to clear my inbox and check resources before starting work, but had to meet a child who was refusing to get out of the car (I’m SENDCo).
Form time, lesson one, lesson two (Year 8, Year 7, two different subjects).
Break duty, intervened in a spat (no break/time for cuppa)
Lesson 3 (Year 9, needs including a child due in court).
lunch - tried to do my SENDCo role in this slot by checking in on a few children who need supported break times and who were worried about a trip.
Lesson 4/5: took 60 children on a trip
After school: meetings
At home: jumped straight onto another meeting at 5pm, for another hour. Caught up on admin.

This is a normal, not particularly busy day.

Please do not tell me we’re slacking. It’s now been 8 weeks since the summer, and I’ve got acute pain in my back that I don’t have time to investigate. I’m completely overwhelmed.

I don’t work in public sector but have seen how it works from another involvement, in particular a local authority. As an outsider looking in it does seem like they spend a lot of time having meetings, talking about what’s going to be done etc etc. but very little change, work seems to happen based on the number of staff, it’s more talking about work than actual work. I’m sure they do have some hard working staff this is more senior management and from the outside seems like a big waste of time and money

The issue is a lot of people in the public sector have never worked anywhere else. There are obviously downsides in any job/industry but imo some of the pensions in the public sector are amazing in terms of employer contributions so that is a big plus.