Off Topic Politics Thread

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Number 1 Jasper said:
Always has wound me up that the bastards who weren’t in the union got the same pay rise as us .

And when openreach got ( partially ) hived off and HR started flexing their muscles , then the fu**ers joined :emoticon-0183-swear:emoticon-0183-swear:emoticon-0183-swear
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One of my colleagues joined the RMT recently, because he’d been (wrongly) informed that Union members might get a pay rise which non members wouldn’t be entitled to. Which I found quite funny tbh.
 
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St Badger said:
What bloody well annoys me, with some of the working class, are the “freeloaders”.
By that, I mean those people who work in an industry that is represented by a union, that negotiates pay rises, longer holidays, shorter hours, safer working conditions etc, without ever becoming a union member themselves.
These freeloaders are quite happy to benefit from the endeavour of free union representation, when it improves their lives, yet they are often amongst the first to whine and whinge when a union takes strike action in order to attain a suitable agreement for their members, and in many cases, the freeloaders who never join unions.
Maybe non union members should be forced to negotiate their own pay rises and working conditions individually, instead of being allowed to be on the same contract as those negotiated for union members.
They might see things differently then.
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Afternoon <diva>
 
Number 1 Jasper said:
Always has wound me up that the bastards who weren’t in the union got the same pay rise as us .

And when openreach got ( partially ) hived off and HR started flexing their muscles , then the fu**ers joined :emoticon-0183-swear:emoticon-0183-swear:emoticon-0183-swear
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So it's not actually about fairness for all workers then? But fairness for workees who agree with you on everything work-related and who do things that you expect them to do?

Interesting.
 
For what it's worth I'm not a member of a union as I don't feel it's overly beneficial for my role and certainly don't want to throw > £100 a year at it.

I support those striking over the Summer though (except GP's if they were to) and absolutely feel they have the right to do it without being demonised.
 
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Libby said:
GP's have basically been on strike since March 2020 iirc.
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There's going to be a general strike, mass protests that will need new water cannons to counter, riot police and the army. There'll be rivers of blood and summary executions. You're all ****ed over there.
 
StJabbo1 said:
There's going to be a general strike, mass protests that will need new water cannons to counter, riot police and the army. There'll be rivers of blood and summary executions. You're all ****ed over there.
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Sounds good to me. Too soft in this country and should take a leaf out of the French book.

Will have to happen relatively soon though. Us Brits don't kick off when it's not summer.
 
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Libby said:
Sounds good to me. Too soft in this country and should take a leaf out of the French book.

Will have to happen relatively soon though. Us Brits don't kick off when it's not summer.
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The ports are blockading themselves with piles of brexit driven paperwork and passport checks.
 
Libby said:
So it's not actually about fairness for all workers then? But fairness for workees who agree with you on everything work-related and who do things that you expect them to do?

Interesting.
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No . It’s not about fairness for all workers .

What’s fair about me paying x amount of money per year for some one else ( who pays f all )get the same pay rise as me ?

what’s fair about me paying x amount for legal help , union support in disciplinary cases ,etc , when someone who pays f all gets it .

What is fair about ANY of that ?
 
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Number 1 Jasper said:
No . It’s not about fairness for all workers .

What’s fair about me paying x amount of money per year for some one else ( who pays f all )get the same pay rise as me ?

what’s fair about me paying x amount for legal help , union support in disciplinary cases ,etc , when someone who pays f all gets it .

What is fair about ANY of that ?
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My services as an EEPTU shop steward were only available to union members, virtually 100% of the workforce.
 
Number 1 Jasper said:
No . It’s not about fairness for all workers .

What’s fair about me paying x amount of money per year for some one else ( who pays f all )get the same pay rise as me ?

what’s fair about me paying x amount for legal help , union support in disciplinary cases ,etc , when someone who pays f all gets it .

What is fair about ANY of that ?
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Fair enough mate. I've read a lot of comments in recent months about how it's all about getting workers a better deal. If it's not that broad and only for those who do as expected then I misunderstood.

I think the same payrise is fair enough if they're doing the same job tbh. Union membership shouldn't be the sole deciding factor on whether someone deserves a payrise imo.

For example I think I've earn't my payrise for all my work during the pandemic (including 200-300 hours unpaid overtime which I chose to do off my own back). Each to their own though and I'd have happily gone without it.

While half the country was begging for lockdowns and many people loving life on furlough it's quite obvious to the rest of us it was going to have to be paid back.
 
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Speaking of furlough and using your logic I wonder if only those who recieved those payments should have to contribute to higher tax/NI amounts now?

And those who worked throughout can stay on the previous rates and pay less than others? Seems fair to me - after all those people didn't benefit from the billions given out...
 
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StJabbo1 said:
There's going to be a general strike, mass protests that will need new water cannons to counter, riot police and the army. There'll be rivers of blood and summary executions. You're all ****ed over there.
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Not sure we have sufficient police or army for any of that . That’s kind of the thing about “policing with consent”
 
It’s not quite true that the British never riot. Seems we need a good enough reason, but anyone who remembers the Poll Tax riots knows you can only push people so far before they push back, hard if necessary.
 
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Libby said:
Speaking of furlough and using your logic I wonder if only those who recieved those payments should have to contribute to higher tax/NI amounts now?

And those who worked throughout can stay on the previous rates and pay less than others? Seems fair to me - after all those people didn't benefit from the billions given out...
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The like is for your reply .

I can’t comment on Furlough as I don’t know anyone who was on it apart from a cousin in Devon , she thought it was OK .

We will have to agree to disagree on the pay rise stuff :-)
 
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StJabbo1 said:
There's going to be a general strike, mass protests that will need new water cannons to counter, riot police and the army. There'll be rivers of blood and summary executions. You're all ****ed over there.
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I fear things are going to get messy…. There was civil unrest not so long ago based on Facebook rumours of so called riots that were largely due to stagnation of pockets of society…. Now we have that mixed in with real threats to most working peoples pockets and into that powder keg is the dross of politics as it stands…. “What’s the point in getting rid of BoJo if the replacement is BoJo Mark 2” is what they’ll rightly say…. An Autumn of civil unrest beckons….
 
I hope there are riots.


Things need to change. Energy bills set to go up 77% after already going up 50%. Then another big raise in January. House prices soaring, child care soaring, flights and borders ****ed, nhs crippled.. need I go on?

Society is unsustainable. Absolutely everything is getting worse.

I back unions and strike actions generally, although they are not addressing the root cause of the problems and are just a temporary solution.

Some of us said the lockdowns and associated money printing would cause more problems than they solved, and were shouted down. Well here we are.
 
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Osvaldorama said:
I hope there are riots.


Things need to change. Energy bills set to go up 77% after already going up 50%. Then another big raise in January. House prices soaring, child care soaring, flights and borders ****ed, nhs crippled.. need I go on?

Society is unsustainable. Absolutely everything is getting worse.

I back unions and strike actions generally, although they are not addressing the root cause of the problems and are just a temporary solution.

Some of us said the lockdowns and associated money printing would cause more problems than they solved, and were shouted down. Well here we are.
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Thank god we've got 'mad' Lizzie Truss set to sort this stuff out. :emoticon-0148-yes:
 
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As scary as it is to say it… as you detail, there are problems at every turn and everyone is exasperated with what’s to come… fearing the unknown is the worst part.

Covid has kicked a few problems down the road and created a whole host more, but the apathy and stagnation in politics which has been allowed to build up is contemptible.

The preening of feathers on camera if those two half wits who claim they know what best for working people genuinely sickens me.

I don’t condone riots, but as a grown adult I don't know where to turn to try and make meaningful change at the top let alone someone who is younger, naiver and potentially more vulnerable, who can’t get a job, who can’t now go to Uni as their course is now not funded due to the recent Government changes, who can’t get on the property ladder because of the spiralling prices, who can’t afford to put their children in childcare or put petrol in their first car all while the shareholders continue to count their millions and billions.

For me it’s a case of when they happen, not if….
 
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