View Full Version : local government workers strike
Hi All ,
I am typing this while I am on a 2 day strike , work for local council
What are you thoughts about the strike ?
Do you recon that a 2.45 percent increase and 9 previous below inflations pay awards are acceptable?
do you think that local goverment workers should shut up and accept the offer ??
cheers Steveg
Hi All ,
I am typing this while I am on a 2 day strike , work for local council
What are you thoughts about the strike ?
Do you recon that a 2.45 percent increase and 9 previous below inflations pay awards are acceptable?
do you think that local goverment workers should shut up and accept the offer ??
cheers Steveg
I have much sympathy for you. It must really suck to have to lose 2 days pay :(
im in GMB thus not on strike
i belive unison are after 6% whereas GMB took the 2.45
which is ****
custard
16-07-08, 12:12 PM
think its the usual crap that goes on with unions. half of me says find a different job if your not happy but the other bit understands that to actually get a pay rise working in the public sector is generally in time with herds of flying porcine mammals and to receive those that are below inflation is an insult - it basically means that you could end up earning less than when you started....
Depends...
Do you earn more than I do? Lots of people who earn more than fully qualified engineers have recently have been on strike...that just bugs the poo out of me. At least the schools shut on wednesday/thursday so the kids wont go hungry at schools...
Depends...
Do you earn more than I do? ...
no, i dont
What are you thoughts about the strike ?
Do you recon that a 2.45 percent increase and 9 previous below inflations pay awards are acceptable?
do you think that local goverment workers should shut up and accept the offer ??
I had a similar chat with a collegue who made a very valid point:
2.45% beats our 0%!
Think yourself lucky that your employer is bringing a payrise to the table! I would go on to mention that my taxes pay your.... blah blah blah, but what's the point? :lol:
Think yourself lucky that your employer is bringing a payrise to the table! I would go on to mention that my taxes pay your.... blah blah blah, but what's the point? :lol:
Are you in a union?
SoulKiss
16-07-08, 12:16 PM
Problem is that with the current economic climate, any pay-rise is going to be hard to come by.
Its almost impossible to raise EVERYONES wages to above inflation levels without just escalating things.
That said, a minimum of inflation with specific performance related amounts for those that do their jobs well should be the least that is offered
Are you in a union?
Yup.
Company in the middle of a merger, and selling off a large proportion of the company meaning lots of potential job losses. They're doing this to recover money. No way would a pay rise ever be offered given the current situation.
In all honesty, I'm starting to view all the recent pay strikes as "I've been offered more money, but I'm not happy with it, and I'm not going to work to demonstrate my point." I'd love my manager to be able to authorise a pay rise. Any pay rise.
Yup.
Get them to do something about it then.
SoulKiss
16-07-08, 12:19 PM
Get them to do something about it then.
If there is nothing in the pot how can they do something about it?
Problems are folks, pots are getting emptier.
If your not happy get a new job, then they have to increase the wage to attract new people.........but Oh that right they actually dont because theres plenty of people willing to jump into council works, because its well known how flexible and good to work for councils are.....you cant have everything.
Thanks
G
(23% Payrise and 15% bonus ;) lol)
Get them to do something about it then.
Did you not read my post? :lol:
The company I work for is doing some hefty surgery on itself to prevent them loosing £400,000 per month!! I don't see how there's a legitimate way they could pay anyone more money at the moment.
I work (self-employed basis) 1 day a week for Liverpool City Council so I know a little about this. They have just completed a stock transfer (of former LCC housing to a housing association) and the work involved was enormous - they worked in some cases 12+ hour days for nothing extra, and it's understandable that they feel that it's one way traffic. It's not as if the pay scales are that generous. The offer is derisory - inflation at 3.8% - it's way below - there is only so much that you can squeeze.
Did you not read my post? :lol:
The company I work for is doing some hefty surgery on itself to prevent them loosing £400,000 per month!! I don't see how there's a legitimate way they could pay anyone more money at the moment.
Yes I did. Sounds like tough **** then :rolleyes:
Public sector jobs are slightly different to this though. In private industry people benefit financially when times are good and get crapped on when times are tough. In the public sector people get crapped on whatever the economy is doing.
im in GMB thus not on strike
Likewise.
Here in Cardiff, the local Unison Branch reps told porkies at a meeting on Monday when they told their membership that GMB hadn't been ballotted over strike action when we had.
i belive unison are after 6% whereas GMB took the 2.45
6% is completely unrealistic in the current economic climate, with workers in the private sector either having no increase at all or, worse still, being laid off. Other unions can see this, so why not Unison?
It's 2.45 for most workers. The very low paid are being offered 3.3%. These figures aren't a million miles from the inflation rate at the time that the pay negotiations started and that was before the "credit crunch" started to bite and before the word "recession" was being used.
which is ****
What is totally **** is that they would need 6% to recoup the losses being made by going on strike.
It's like turkeys voting for Christmas and being egged on by headless chickens.
I work (self-employed basis) 1 day a week for Liverpool City Council so I know a little about this. They have just completed a stock transfer (of former LCC housing to a housing association) and the work involved was enormous - they worked in some cases 12+ hour days for nothing extra, and it's understandable that they feel that it's one way traffic. It's not as if the pay scales are that generous. The offer is derisory - inflation at 3.8% - it's way below - there is only so much that you can squeeze.
Alot of people work long days for no extra money when they are only contracted to 7.5hrs a day, and alot of people dont get payrises at all. Hell alot of people are even loosing their jobs in this current climate, so they should quit moaning :confused:
Every person I know who works for local councils work flexi time, if they do 12hrs one day, they can claim it back another day anyway.
It's 2.45 for most workers. The very low paid are being offered 3.3%. .
whats classed as very low paid?
Join the Army, the Government feels so guilty about sending us to kill rag heads for their oil they have given us som cracking pay rises in the last few years!! and some good tax free bonuses for while we are on tour as well!! happy days!!
whats classed as very low paid?
The pay offer is:
"2.45%, with £100 extra for the lowest three pay grades"
So that's 2.45% plus £100 for salaries below £11,907 (according to our pay scales list on the works intranet). On that payscale I make that 3.28%.
Join the Army, the Government feels so guilty about sending us to kill rag heads for their oil they have given us som cracking pay rises in the last few years!! and some good tax free bonuses for while we are on tour as well!! happy days!!
Still crap pay though to say........
a) You are getting shot at with 'real bullets' by brainwashed 16 year olds with AK47's
and
b) Bomb by the Americans quite regularly
The pay offer is:
for salaries below £11,907
Wow is that even minimum wage? Its no wonder some people choose to stay in bed and sell stolen stuff on ebay for cash.
custard
16-07-08, 12:40 PM
but on the other side if councils etc paid as much as private sector and people were as accountable and actually got fired once in a while there would be more money to spend on salaries cos then things would get done properly!
metalmonkey
16-07-08, 12:40 PM
Hi All ,
I am typing this while I am on a 2 day strike , work for local council
What are you thoughts about the strike ?
Do you recon that a 2.45 percent increase and 9 previous below inflations pay awards are acceptable?
do you think that local goverment workers should shut up and accept the offer ??
cheers Steveg
Well I got a 1.9% pay rise last year, god knows what they will force upon us this time, at least you can strike.
Yeys, yes I could change job, but I have put far too much into this to change, besides crazy change job now? Unemployement is at its highest for a long time.
Still crap pay though to say........
a) You are getting shot at with 'real bullets' by brainwashed 16 year olds with AK47's
and
b) Bomb by the Americans quite regularly
Not this little soldier after getting my third ill be pushing 35K a year.
and point a: thats our job i joined knowing i might get shot at,
point b, you believe the papers to much. US air cover is great, very very rarely are they danger close. and very effective !!
Wow is that even minimum wage? Its no wonder some people choose to stay in bed and sell stolen stuff on ebay for cash.
It is ****. Remember, that's the third rung of the ladder - there's two below that. Thankfully, less and less people are being paid at those grades.
As someone said earlier, public sector employees tend (very generally) to get paid less on a like-for-like basis when compared to the private sector.
To compensate, the jobs are relatively stable, working conditions are good (37hours a week and flexitime) and the pension scheme is still final salary.
Pros and cons. For me, it's mainly pros - i.e. a stable income whilst raising my young family, etc.
Blimey back from a pint thanks for the replies .
I work in IT ( Infrastructure team / Oracle DBA) earn 22k .........
re G's comments :-
If your not happy get a new job, then they have to increase the wage to attract new people.........but Oh that right they actually dont because theres plenty of people willing to jump into council works, because its well known how flexible and good to work for councils are.....you cant have everything.
Council can't get any one to replace staff in my team and currently I am showing a "consultant expert" how to do the job who earns what I earn in a week in a day .....
he works shorter hours than me aswell ..
Me gonna vote with my feet
Cheers Steveg
Wow is that even minimum wage? Its no wonder some people choose to stay in bed and sell stolen stuff on ebay for cash.
yes, it is
i think your post has given me an idea for a new job.:p
Council can't get any one to replace staff in my team and currently I am showing a "consultant expert" how to do the job who earns what I earn in a week in a day .....
Hate to state the obvious.....but what are you playing at then???
If the grass is so much greener, why are you hanging about wasting life for a 3%+ payrise.....when you could be earning in what you do in a week.....in a day.
Hate to state the obvious.....but what are you playing at then???
If the grass is so much greener, why are you hanging about wasting life for a 3%+ payrise.....when you could be earning in what you do in a week.....in a day.
+1.
I take the opinion that I'm paid to fulfill my contract. Training other people does not fall under my contract, so I wouldn't be doing that unless I was being paid appropriately. By "appropriately" I would want more money than those I'm training, naturally.
EDIT: Same goes for all sorts of things. I've worked as a DBA in the past, and in this job, I''m constantly getting asked "Can you just..." for DB work. But that's not what I'm employed to do. So I respond with "Sure, complete the attached expenses form and I'll get right on it." 90% of those emails never see a reply. :(
ivantate
16-07-08, 01:35 PM
The government wants to keep inflation low so they will not be giving any record payrises at the moment.
I really wonder where all these figures about average earnings come from, is there a special civil servants brainwashing handbook that has make believe numbers for what private sector people earn? or do they only look at London?
Like a load of other people here working in the private sector I seem to have had no rise for a long time, work 60+hours a week for no extra or time off, have to actually answer to someone with the right answers.
Obviously moving on is the thing to do but it seems everyone on here that doesnt work for the government is in the same boat.
One good thing is my girlfriend became a teacher 2 years ago so I can now live off the government too once my extended redundancy finally takes place.
I am strange in that I value time with family over loads of cash and material things.
I am happy to earn less and have more time with the family , local government big plus is the hours ie 37 hr p/w , not on 24/7 call as most DBA are . ie they don't own you ...
I take on board the comments re 2.45 increase in todays economic circumstances , however the problem is really due to the last 10 years below inflation pay increases.
BTW the wife is on strike aswell she is a teachers assistant for children with special needs again the money is poor but she enjoys helping the kids out which means more to her than the money
Cheers Steveg
Ceri JC
16-07-08, 02:39 PM
A lot of very true and relevant stuff
Expecting a 6% "for nothing" pay rise (IE no new responsibilities, strings attached, etc.) in any job in the current financial climate is mental, to be perfectly blunt, never mind when you work for the government. Sorry, but IMO by striking in this situation you're cutting off your nose to spite your face.
I'm also a bit hacked off reading what a hard time of it teachers have when they have an incredible holiday allowance (and if you pro rata'd their wages, they'd not be so bad at all) and are frequently paid more than (vastly more qualified) research scientists, for example.
gettin2dizzy
16-07-08, 02:41 PM
You can't deny there aren't public servants who do sweet FA all day! Very easy to get away with it working in the public sector.. ;)
You can't deny there aren't public servants who do sweet FA all day! Very easy to get away with it working in the public sector.. ;)No I can't however I can vouch for the department I work in and there is no dead wood , everyone has work schedules & deadlines booked and missed deadlines mean warnings and capability procedures ie getting sacked .
Have worked with a lot of consultants who do FA all day ;)
Cheers Steveg
Striking is just blackmail, If the work/life balance of your current salary and position are not acceptable, move to a new job where it is. You don't have to work there, and as previously posted, there are many who will. A salary is a mutually agreed value of an employee; the company/council pays what it thinks you are worth, and if you disagree you go somewhere else.
I have recently been made redundant because the company I worked for ran out of work. That simple. My pay rise this year is currently -100%.
Striking is just blackmail, If the work/life balance of your current salary and position are not acceptable, move to a new job where it is. You don't have to work there, and as previously posted, there are many who will. A salary is a mutually agreed value of an employee; the company/council pays what it thinks you are worth, and if you disagree you go somewhere else.
I have recently been made redundant because the company I worked for ran out of work. That simple. My pay rise this year is currently -100%.
Are you Maggie Thatcher?
Are you Maggie Thatcher?
No, her b*stard child :D
In my world only those that are tied to the job should strike. IE those that have specific needs that cannot be transfered to other places. You can't really say that for many jobs.
The public sector doesn't pay too badly. No one is going starve and no one is going to be a millionaire. The work life balance is what people are here for.
I think the NHS agreed a 2.95% payrise. Dont expect any more than that at best. Its come from the very top of Government that no large public sector payrises will happen. And whats 0.5% anyway? Probably doesn't even cover your union membership fee.
This isn't because they are tight. It is because giving people an extra 1% now will ultimately cost them more than that in years to come if they let inflation run away.
Basically anyone demanding (and blackmailing for) a higher than target inflation payrise is working towards pushing our economy, and ultimately our future wealth, downwards.
We are going to be relatively poorer, but unfortunately we're going to have to ride it out.
timwilky
17-07-08, 10:50 AM
I went 3 years without a pay rise as the company was in serious financial trouble. did they reward people afterwards when we started making money. No of course not, still had below inflation rises.
If you don't like it, either work harder and gain a bonus/promotion or find a new job.
I think in the coming 18 months people will be glad to still have jobs
Speedy Claire
17-07-08, 11:14 AM
I have mixed views tho do empathise. I`m used to meagre pay rises but I suppose I at least get one so should be grateful.
What grates more with me is that I`m a District Nurse and obv use my own car to get to my patients... I get a meagre mileage allowance but with the rise in fuel costs we have actually worked out that our mileage allowance doesn`t cover our fuel costs and its costing me something like ?6 - ?7 per week to visit my patients. That added to the poor pay rise this year does annoy me.
Yeah, the NHS mileage allowances haven't gone up in line with fuel costs. But they have just gone up.
Check this out: http://www.networks.nhs.uk/news.php?nid=2300
Basically almost everything has gone up 10%.
Speedy Claire
17-07-08, 11:23 AM
Thanks for that link.... this information hasn`t as yet been cascaded back to us but i`ll look into it and it looks like it`d be backdated too!! thats a good website, not come across that one before
Al_Sweetman
17-07-08, 12:22 PM
I can see where you're coming from - it's not like you're guaranteed a final salary pension, is it....
Oh, yeah, you are.
Shellywoozle
17-07-08, 12:33 PM
I wish I had the right to strike. :( 1.9% pay increase for me this year :(
Speedy Claire
17-07-08, 03:42 PM
Yeah, the NHS mileage allowances haven't gone up in line with fuel costs. But they have just gone up.
Check this out: http://www.networks.nhs.uk/news.php?nid=2300
Basically almost everything has gone up 10%.
I chased it up and got confirmation of the increase this afternoon, something is better than nothing :D
Biker Biggles
17-07-08, 04:11 PM
Well I applaud anyone prepared to take action to improve their lot.For many people that means collective action like this as that is their only strength.Unless and until we see action to limit the fat cat snouts in the trough that is quite normal now,I see no reason why those without much clout to do what they can to get ahead.Woirth bearing in mind that there is no shortage of people waiting to do any of your jobs,so smugly saying if you dont like it go elsewhere might just come home to bite your &rse one day.
Miss Alpinestarhero
17-07-08, 05:58 PM
You started your job knowing your salary - why are you moaning? at least your getting a pay-rise. So what if its not as big as you want it to be? Id like a larger wage but that doesnt mean me and my colleauges are going to go on strike.
Everyone would like a bigger wage. If everyone had the pay-rise that they wanted then there would probably be no money left.
I was saying to matt the other day that it is disgusting how much footballers get paid: they should donate some of their wages to the public sector i.e. NHS, councils, police force etc because they dont even need that much. Did anyone see that programme of a nurse asking footballers to donate a weeks wages to the NHS? It was on ages ago but I found it quite interesting...loosing a weeks wages didnt even make a small dent in their wallet.
Maria
Unless and until we see action to limit the fat cat snouts in the trough that is quite normal now,I see no reason why those without much clout to do what they can to get ahead.
Not many fat cats in the public sector, and certainly no bonuses!
As for donating money to Nurses, why should they? There are far more worthy causes than nurses. If they give it to nurses, then where does it stop?
startrek.steve
17-07-08, 06:23 PM
I work for local government, I was on strike the last two days, I was gonna make a comment, but this thread looks a bit rabid, so I dont think I'll bother....
Gordon Brown :smt072
, I was on strike the last two days, I was gonna make a comment, but this thread looks a bit rabid, so I dont think I'll bother....
I don't think it's rabid. I think people are polarised into; left of centre, public sector should be better paid, and right of centre where people think you earn a rise. Neither view is right and neither is wrong. As ever, the answer is somewhere in the middle.
Flamin_Squirrel
17-07-08, 07:22 PM
Well I applaud anyone prepared to take action to improve their lot.For many people that means collective action like this as that is their only strength.Unless and until we see action to limit the fat cat snouts in the trough that is quite normal now,I see no reason why those without much clout to do what they can to get ahead.Woirth bearing in mind that there is no shortage of people waiting to do any of your jobs,so smugly saying if you dont like it go elsewhere might just come home to bite your &rse one day.
A ridiculous sentiment. There is only a certain amount of wealth to go around, which is proportioned out in the form of wages. Trying to give everyone more 'wealth' just causes inflation and devalues currency. Therefore, the important thing isn't how much you are paid, but what you're paid relative to everyone else.
And what you're paid is, with a few exceptions, determined by market forces. So why should certain groups be permitted to bully more money out of their employer without the merit to back it up, just because they can gang up?
If you've genuinely got the skills to earn what you think you should be earning, then you should be able to quit and move to somewhere that'll pay it. Otherwise you're just being greedy.
Seem to have stirred up a hornets nest ....:smt094
Any way back to work tomorrow :smt105:smt105
However things could be worse , still got my bike :thumleft::thumleft:
take it easy
Cheers Steve
Biker Biggles
18-07-08, 10:39 PM
Squirrel---Do you not think that employers "gang up"in order to keep wages down?For example,they massively influence employment legislation and collectively control vast amounts of money such that any government that defies them too much finds itself ganged up on to the extent of bakruptcy.
As for market forces,the world population is over 6 billion,and there are jobs for only about 1 billion of them.No one (including you) is irreplaceable,so we all "gang up" to some extent to protect ourselves against others.Perversely,if you are not in a union,it is probably true to surmise that most of the advantages you enjoy today were fought for by workers who were in unions,and many of those advantages are still being fought for on your behalf by organised labour,ganging up and bullying people as you would see it.
gettin2dizzy
19-07-08, 12:50 AM
Squirrel---Do you not think ....
Squirrel is always right :thumbsup:
If I were to end up under the wheels of an artic; I'll let him represent all of my views on here :lol:
Biker Biggles
19-07-08, 09:27 AM
The artic would still win unless you were a member of the T&G union.;)
As for Squirrel,he's buried his nuts with Thatchers children back in the 1980s,when the entire economy was run according to some guru from Chicago called Friedman and God was replaced by a motorway that ran from Sunbury down to the Hampshire coast.:rolleyes:
Cryptic----Answers on a post:takeabow:
vBulletin® , Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.