You have a childcare bill because you have had a child and decided to return to work. It’s not compulsory.
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For those that say they support nurses but not the strikes, what would you suggest they do instead?
We wouldn't even have weekends if it wasn't for strikes. Maternity leave, sick pay, annual leave, all resulted from union action. Strikes are SUPPOSED to be inconvenient and difficult. It's about demonstrating the value of the labour. Would we be having these discussions if toilet cleaners went on strike? Probably not.
We wouldn't even have weekends if it wasn't for strikes. Maternity leave, sick pay, annual leave, all resulted from union action. Strikes are SUPPOSED to be inconvenient and difficult. It's about demonstrating the value of the labour. Would we be having these discussions if toilet cleaners went on strike? Probably not.
That’s what labour laws are for. Striking is basically now all about pay.
I don’t disagree when it’s needed. I disagree with timing. The economy is sliding into the gutter and people are expecting more.
As I previously mentioned if this was a fee years from now when the economy picked up then I would be supportive.
If nurses didn't return to work after having children there'd be barely any nurses.
Women are already having less children because childcare costs are untenable, and not returning to work is not an option for most.
No children = no future tax payers. Who the duck is going to fund the NHS then? This government is so unbelievably shortsighted it's unreal
You said you didn't get a pay rise so nurses shouldn't be asking for one. I personally think you should get a pay rise, there is plenty of money about to pay dividends but not staff.
British people absolutely love racing to the bottom. "I get by on £X so no one should have more". We're the fifth biggest economy in the world. We shouldn't have working poor people.
Also why is school free then?
Those labour laws were initiated by industrial action though. We can't rely on the government to sort it out, especially not the absolute scumbags running the show now.
The problem is we have had 12 years of low growth and stagnation. Nurses have taken a 20% pay cut in the last 10 years. So there is nothing left to give now. It's a problem of the government's making, we really can't be pointing the finger at public sector workers. No way is it easy for them.
Years from now we won't have an NHS to save. It's literally do or die.
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People say it's an embarrassment the strikes now, I think actually it's a step in the right direction. Brits for too long have not striked while things get worse and worse.
Maybe it there had of been strikes ages ago then it wouldn't have ended up where we are today? So many aspects in society are in dire need of reform. It's way bigger than a few essential services.
Maybe it there had of been strikes ages ago then it wouldn't have ended up where we are today? So many aspects in society are in dire need of reform. It's way bigger than a few essential services.
Completely agree. We have working people pointing the finger at each other while the politicians dine on their subsidised lunches and hand out lucrative contracts to their mates. That's embarrassing.
Yeah I can’t lie I’m getting abit fed up of this attitude as well. It’s alright for other companies to pay peanuts for workers we couldn’t live without, like the police, the prison service etc but mention that you can’t understand how someone can’t live off over 30k a year then ur in the wrong
This is completely my point!
Everyone should expect more….toilet cleaners, retail workers…everyone…the minimum wage should be a lot higher than it is….landlords should be out of business, landowners should be heavily taxed…when you look at my background I should in theory be a true blue Tory….instead I’m a raging socialist….I literally cannot believe how social mobility has ground to a halt in my working lifetime….
the fact that coppers can’t strike is a national disgrace
almost as obscene as their starting salary which is paltry
School educate children, they are not free childcare and any parent who sees them as this needs to look at themselves.
This is just spot on.
It's a struggle for everyone!
Yes nurses worked in the pandemic (it's your literal job) but so did lots and lots of people. Yes nurses deserve a payrise. As does everyone.
All this 20 per cent real terms pay cut.. again the same for everyone. No working people got a pay rise in line with inflation and if you rely on benefits you're even more ducked.
I earn 34k and I'm not relying on a foodbank?! Plenty of people who earn less are not relying on foorbanks.
All the points above about childcare and housing are absolutely relevant and that's what needs to change.
THIS!! All retail workers, cleaners, bin men etc who also worked through the pandemic, exposing themselves being abused by the public they also deserve pay rises but because they aren’t civil servants they are seen as a lessor citizen.
Everyone deserves a pay rise but we are in a recession, after a pandemic with world war three possibly on the card. Everyone is in the tit with those in power having no idea while they drink £100 bottles of wine at lunch.
I would support them all striking too. Unionise people!
We are in a recession because of consistent mismanagement of the economy for over a decade.
I want to see all of those groups unionised and mass strikes…all of those groups deserve far better pay and they should get it too
The way we dealt with the pandemic as a country did not help matters….we didn’t have to shut the whole country down for 2 years but we did…primarily to keep wealthy pensioners from dying one whole year early
I find people who wear “I worked through the pandemic” as a badge of honour, really odd.
most people in the U.K. worked through the pandemic. Myself included. I’ve never mentioned it as a bragging right though.
the difference between people who worked during the pandemic and nurses (and other medical professionals in general) is that nurses were exposing themselves to the sick, covid patients and working in environments were there was a much higher risk of covid. If they did catch covid, they got it worse than others because of viral load exposure. Their workload increased overnight, for a consistent period of time.
on top of that, they often didn’t have the correct equipment, were dealing with higher death rates (ergo more stressful, more traumatic etc, requiring more pastoral care).
that just isn’t comparable to someone who say, worked on a supermarket checkout through the pandemic. Neither is better or worse than the other, both jobs are important. Both carried risks and exposure to covid. But the risks aren’t the same.
Retail work (and I say this as someone who has worked as a cashier!) is a low skilled job. You can train for it within days. It’s wonderful that you have 11 quals, but you don’t need any qualifications to work in retail. The responsibilities are low.
For nurses, it takes years of training and the risks are high (both to themselves and their patients). Not comparable really.
I support the strike, I support all public sector strikes and wish there were more private sector ones. Strikes protect all of us. Even if the requests seem unfeasible, or if the outcome is less tangible - it still sends a strong signalling message. So yep nurses, strike away. I know they only do it if they feel they have no choice as the vast majority of nurses are committed to their profession and their patients.
Real terms pay cut for the majority of workers but more billionaires than ever before? Wake up people! There is a magic money tree, it's just being used to feed the wealthy.
you realise civil servants get tit on too right? They haven’t had a reasonable pay rise in a decade and become political scapegoats too?
That’s a problem though. In a progressive age, no one should work at XYZ for 10 years and then feel “grateful” to be employed. No one should be constantly a risk of redundancy. Your husband has ten years of valuable experience but no doubt his corporate bosses have made him feel like his is disposable to keep him “in his place”.
it’s a tactic I observed being adopted in the retail industry after the financial crash. Make workers feel disposable, make them feel like there’s never any money, that the buisness is just about keeping afloat and they are extending a favour to their employees just keeping them in a job. Keep reshuffling roles every so often so they are never offered any stability, so their contracts are always changing to slightly less favourable ones.
In reality - move to a head office/corporate role and all of a sudden that rhetoric vanishes. It’s intentional messaging to make retail workers feel grateful and beholden to their employer. To prevent them striking. And judging by your husbands position it’s working very well.
Sorry but do you live in the real world or some sort of weird film reality? Your sense of how people really live is astonishing, I guess like a politician viewing from their towers telling people to get better paid jobs instead of claiming benefits. You have no idea clearly.
In the same sentiment, why don’t nurses just get better jobs, go private or agency. Why are they striking because they feel they must be a nurse, they must serve the public? (This is not my view just going off your post!)
It's undeniably true that the 0.01% hord the majority of wealth but I don't think they can easily be tapped for money, especially in this globalised world.
Sadly throughout history it persists that a few hold the wealth.
People vote with their wallet and continue to buy stuff from companies like Amazon and apple.
Sadly throughout history it persists that a few hold the wealth.
People vote with their wallet and continue to buy stuff from companies like Amazon and apple.