Strikes used to be about battling exploitation, now they are a weapon for the well-off
Strikes used to be weapon of the poorly paid and the role of trade unions was to defend downtrodden workers being exploited by their greedy bosses.
These days, however, we have junior doctors standing on picket lines demanding a 35% pay increase which would take their starting salary to £40,000. Headteachers are also considering strike action and criminal barristers were on strike last year. Even those sympathetic to their cause will surely accept that these people are not on the breadline and during their careers will likely earn much more than most of the population.
The whole piece is well worth reading as a reminder of shifts in political allegiance and the formidable power of the public sector.
And while union leaders routinely claim that workers are leaving in droves because their pay and conditions are so dreadful, the figures do not bear this out. The taxpayer-funded workforce has increased significantly over the last decade, particularly in the last two years. Overall public sector employment has grown from the full-time equivalent of 4.48 million people in 2019 to 4.9 million at the end of 2022, a 400,000 increase. The civil service alone has seen an 11% increase in numbers over the same period and the NHS a 3.7% increase. It seems clear that a public sector career remains an attractive choice for many people.
Strikes used to be weapon of the poorly paid and the role of trade unions was to defend downtrodden workers being exploited by their greedy bosses.
These days, however, we have junior doctors standing on picket lines demanding a 35% pay increase which would take their starting salary to £40,000. Headteachers are also considering strike action and criminal barristers were on strike last year. Even those sympathetic to their cause will surely accept that these people are not on the breadline and during their careers will likely earn much more than most of the population.
The whole piece is well worth reading as a reminder of shifts in political allegiance and the formidable power of the public sector.
And while union leaders routinely claim that workers are leaving in droves because their pay and conditions are so dreadful, the figures do not bear this out. The taxpayer-funded workforce has increased significantly over the last decade, particularly in the last two years. Overall public sector employment has grown from the full-time equivalent of 4.48 million people in 2019 to 4.9 million at the end of 2022, a 400,000 increase. The civil service alone has seen an 11% increase in numbers over the same period and the NHS a 3.7% increase. It seems clear that a public sector career remains an attractive choice for many people.
7 comments:
The junior doctors can expect that over their careers their earnings will outperform the mean.
Based on what I know of him I really dislike FDR as a politician. But he got one thing right: he wouldn't allow trade unions for government employees.
The article says that the middle classes have been radicalised. Well, they use different tactics now, but they are hardly radical. There's not much risk of being sacked, and they know that even if they lose, they will recover the money lost, and then a whole lot more as they climb the career ladder.
My professional association was useless in demanding more pay (and I knew the organisation couldn't afford it anyway!) but they were brilliant in negotiating me a good redundancy settlement. Maybe smart professionals will opt for no unions or protection groups, but call in an employment lawyer on an ad hoc basis.
400,000 extra diversity officers 'working' on councils for other greedy 'chief executives' seems to be a normal occurrence these days.
Luckily, none of my goodwill or money goes to London and similar places where these non-jobs are prevalent!
Timbotoo - and they knew that when they chose it as a career.
dearieme - I agree, especially providers of what are near enough to being essential monopoly services.
Sam - I'd say middle class people often seem to be radical in what they claim to believe politically. Many in the public sector don't have the leverage to be radical employees though. For example, nobody would have noticed if I went on strike and I never did.
Scrobs - I wonder how many work from home?
"Strikes used to be about battling exploitation": hardly. The coal miners were always keen strikers but claimed to be the Aristocracy of Labour because they were well paid.
I should modify "always" by admitting that the majority of miners didn't want to strike when Scargill instructed them to set off on their fatuous Charge of the Dirty Brigade. That's why the little commie rat denied them a vote on the matter.
dearieme - one of my colleagues at the time came from a Derbyshire mining village and he said they were incensed about Scargill's strike, especially when pickets from Yorkshire descended on them.
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