News of the day

It seems like the word "trade union" no longer means workers standing shoulder to shoulder. The new definition of this previously honourable term means workers selling each others down the river for a fistful of banknotes. We are all equal, but some are more equal than others.

In case some wonder. The new meaning of the term Trade Union here in the UK is now that "an union of likeminded individuals fighting for their special privileges paid for by lower paid workers in other sectors of the economy paying higher taxes and working longer to fund these priveleges".  

I am thoroughly disgusted. And I see no future for the trade unions movement after they walked into this trap as a bull running into a Spanish bull fighting arena.

toroddfuglesteg wrote: It seems like the word "trade union" no longer means workers standing shoulder to shoulder. The new definition of this previously honourable term means workers selling each others down the river for a fistful of banknotes. We are all equal, but some are more equal than others. In case some wonder. The new meaning of the term Trade Union here in the UK is now that "an union of likeminded individuals fighting for their special privileges paid for by lower paid workers in other sectors of the economy paying higher taxes and working longer to fund these priveleges".   I am thoroughly disgusted. And I see no future for the trade unions movement after they walked into this trap as a bull running into a Spanish bull fighting arena.

• secondary action is illegal. A union can only strike on behalf of its own members. If you're angry about the state of pensions (as you should be), join a union and agitate for some action.
• the Teacher's pension scheme was reformed in 2007, along broadly the lines suggested for other public sector pensions, and according to the Hutton report is affordable, sustainable, has a £46 billion surplus and is set to fall as a % of GDP over the next 30 years. These reforms were accepted as necessary and inevitable and with no industrial action. We've already taken a hit. This latest reform is nothing to do with affordablity and everything to do with ripping up the contracts that were signed so somebody else can pay for the banking system's mistakes.
• average public sector pensions are actually very modest - the figures quoted in the Daily Heil are based on people with 40+ years in service at the top of the salary scale - a small minority, set to become ever smaller as increasingly the public sector relies on short term contracts for most lower level posts
• if you're working for a large corporation and your pension is worth the square root of  all, it's because your employer doesn't think you're worth it. The world's money supply hasn't dried up for the CEOs of FTSE 100 companies - whose dismal performance is part of the reason so many private sector pensions are in such a poor state
• not much of the private sector actually creates wealth, and a lot of the private sector would go to the wall without public sector contracts. The two sectors are dependent on each other
• don't believe the hype. If you really think it's such a cushy number in the public sector, you can always apply for a post in the civil service or your local authority

I'll happily exchange my gilt edged pension for Jeremy wit Clarkson's any time he likes. Applications to join unions have jumped by over 100% in the last few weeks and even head teachers (those well known bastions of sedition) strike for the first time ever in their century plus history. And if you ever do take industrial action , let me know and I'll happily contribute a day's wages to you union's strike fund.