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comments from readers

nawawimohamad
26 June 2008

yes

What else can they do?

suell
26 June 2008

yes

No-one wants to see inflationary spirals of prices/pay/prices. However public sector workers are rewarded, in the main so poorly for their work, and are also so unappreciated, that the offer of a less than inflationary pay award to them is disgusting.

Sue Lloyd

Carl Jones
26 June 2008

yes

When you consider real inflation has been over 6% for the last few years and over the offiial number for the last decade its no wonder that most have had enough. I`ve said it before, most people are much worse off in real terms than a decade ago.

Public pay is terrible, but for most, private sector pay isn`t that much better. British workers are being ripped off just to keep the globalisation model going.

jason from weymouth
27 June 2008

yes

The gap between the rich and poor is as big as it has ever been. So for the 40% who are currently saying 'no' we know what side they are on don't we.

CharlieN
27 June 2008

yes

Yes, If we cannot strike we are all just Slaves of the State!

27 June 2008

no

No, they should not strike - we don't want to return to the 1970s, Everyone must tighten their belts, but they should be the first to get a decent rise when the economy eases, and not the Police, Fires services, the Military, Teachers, Doctotrs and Nurses. These latter groups have done far better than most other state workers since Thatcher's time!

Alan Briggs

Nilsey105
28 June 2008

yes

Yes they should.
Present global economic problems were not created by the workers of the UK labour force. And the smoke and mirrors used to blame the workers for any inflationary price/pay merrygoround should be exposed for what they are. The global markets and the hedge fund gamblers who are the real culprits in the worlds present economic inflationary race are in dire need of regulation and control if not their total banning. The hidden hand of the market is yet another smoke and mirrors act unlike the direct action that the working class are so often forced to take.

writeon
29 June 2008

yes

Local authority workers don't really have much choice but to strike, if they want to maintain and defend their current standard of living. When the real rate of inflation and the soaring prices of staple products are taken into consideration, these workers are actually being told to accept a cut in real wages. Their "pay offer" is an insult to their intelligence, reflecting something close to contempt. And this at time when the incomes of the richest fraction of society is soaring. It's ridiculous that I earn so much, compared to local authority workers, for doing so little. I get income from work I did years ago. I'm paid over and over again for stuff I produced twenty years ago, is this really fair?

mrandyc
29 June 2008

yes

RPI is currently at 4.3%, it is not acceptable that the government expects public sector workers to accept a pay deal below this level, which in real terms would be accepting a pay cut.

IrritatedofTonbridge
29 June 2008

yes

Everybody out!

Broga
30 June 2008

yes

Broga.
Yes. But get smart. Only unexpectedly and one day at a time. Don't make the mistake the miners made so they can be staved into submission. And don't hit the sick and the poor. New Labour has done that already.

mccardigan@aol.com
01 July 2008

yes

They are the backbone of liberal Britain, why should they pay for big buck bonuses?

alfwaterson
01 July 2008

yes

What is the alternative for low paid workers, of which I count myself? With Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Nick Clegg et al showing more faces than the Town Hall clock, shedding crocodile tears as they pretend to understand low paid workers' suffering, yet turn a blind eyes to the speculative antics of the charlatans in the City, who have played a major part in destabilising the economy and in stoking inflation, we have to make sure the nation understands our plight and pays more than lip service to it. As a previous contributor stated, make any action hurt! Why not start by refusing to empty the bins of every MP in the land? Why not refuse to serve them in restaurants, bars, on trains? Why not have every care worker, teaching assistant, police officer, fire officer, ambulance man/woman refuse to shake their hands, or even meet with them on their meaningless visits. If they happen to be hospitalised, let them fetch and empty their own bedpan, let them dress their own wounds, administer their own drugs, and clean their own wards. If enough “Wanted” posters featuring their hypocritical faces were plastered across the land, surely the sanctions would bite.
And don’t for one minute feel sorry for these people, they don’t feel in the least bit sorry for you. They’re quite happy to see you paid a wage that it is not possible to live on. They are quite happy to see your disposable income decrease month by month as ever more is paid in rising mortgage payments, fuel bills and food prices, all moving upwards with double digit inflation figures, yet defend sub 3% wage increases. They are quite happy to push their snouts in the MP’s allowances trough.
So, no more “Mr Nice Guy and Mrs Nice Gal”.
They say the job is worth £ (less than living wage), per annum. Let them do it and make sure you hit them where it hurts.

John Hughes
02 July 2008

yes

Low Paid workers dont make the decision lightly to go on strike. Two days loss of pay amounts to not getting the neccesities in life not the luxuries.

BigMacNTC
02 July 2008

yes

A 'real' inflation matching offer would not be enough to make up for past years below inflation 'pay cuts' but it would atleast allow the hundreds of thousands of low paid workers in Local Govt have a fighting chance of keeping up with the bread line situation they face in the present economic circumstances!! The employers should get back to the table and begin to work constructively to make a pay award not just for this year but the next three years that doesnt condemn many Local Government workers to abject poverty misery. Disgusted Local Government Worker Ian McMullen, North Tyneside.