Strike!

[muttywhitedog]

For the first time in my life, I will be involved in a strike tomorrow. Driving 20 miles to picket isnt on my agenda - I'll leave that to the locals. For a bit of fun, what suggestions do the Goat have for me to do on my unexpected day off?

 

[Deltaitem]

Write to your MP and ask him to lobby the relevant secretary of state to actually talk to the unions.
Make the most of actually being allowed to go on strike, the next time it happens you might get sacked for doing so.
Re-evaluate your finances. With the British economy forecast to do worse than Russia (wonder why), you might need to future-proof your dosh.

 

[Talk Wrench]

Drive to Grantham and pray to the statue of St Maggie Thatcher, begging forgiveness for your sins.

Or just go on a Weatherspoons sesh at 10am.

Your choice

 

[Downsizer]

For the first time in my life, I will be involved in a strike tomorrow. Driving 20 miles to picket isnt on my agenda - I'll leave that to the locals. For a bit of fun, what suggestions do the Goat have for me to do on my unexpected day off?

Why are you striking, willing to share? Did you vote to strike?

 

[Tin basher]

what suggestions do the Goat have for me to do on my unexpected day off?

THE PERFECT DAY FOR HIM

6:00 Alarm
6:30 Massive satisfying sh!t while reading the sports section
7:00 Breakfast: steak and eggs, coffee and toast, all cooked by semi-naked, buxom wench.
7:30 Limo arrives
7:45 Several beers en-route to airport
8:30 Flight in personal Lear Jet
9:30 Limo to Resort Golf Club (blow job en-route)
9:45 Play front nine - 2 under
11:45 Lunch: steak and lobster, 3 beers and a bottle of Dom Perignon
12:15 Blow job
12:30 Play back nine - 4 under
2:15 Limo back to the airport (several bourbons)
2:30 Fly to Bahamas--nap en-route
3:30 Late afternoon fishing excursion with nude all female crew.
4:30 Land world record Marlin (1234lbs) - on light tackle
5.00 Fly home, massage, and hand job by naked super model.
6:45 Sh!t, Shower and Shave
7:00 Watch news: Hated politician assassinated
7:30 Dinner: lobster appetizers, Dom Perignon (1953), big juicy filet steak followed by ice-cream served on a big pair of tits
9:00 Napoleon Brandy and Havana cigar in front of wall-size TV as you watch football game
9:30 Sex with three women (all with lesbian tendencies).
11:00 Massage and Jacuzzi with tasty pizza snacks and a cleansing beer
11:30 A night cap blow job
11:45 In bed alone
11:50 A 22 second fart which changes note 4 times and forces the dog to leave the room
11:51 Laugh yourself to sleep

and back to work in the morning

 

[muttywhitedog]

Why are you striking, willing to share? Did you vote to strike?

I'm striking because of the pittance many of my team receive. 7 years' ago, the % difference between the AO grade (£10.54 per hour) and national Minimum wage(£7.20 per hour) was 46%. Come April, the difference between the AO Grade (11.61 per hour) and the NMW (£10.42) is just 11%. My AO staff make £22400 PA for determining nationality - their job has become far more complex since Brexit, mainly due to the cluster surrounding the lack of clarity regarding EU citizens who stayed but never registered and then pop a kid out after living here many years. Folk in my team rely on food banks. They stay at work for as long as possible to avoid switching the heating on at home. One 60 year old walks 2 miles to work and 2 miles home because they cant afford the bus fare.

Yes I voted to strike and am striking for a decent wage rise for the AO & EO grades. I'd happily forego my 3% if it meant everyone got a flat rate rise, instead of one which gives more to those who earn more. £1500 to an AO is around 7% but to me is around 4%.

I consider myself very fortunate not to be trying to pay rent/mortgage, heat a house and support a family on take-home of about £1500 a month. Its quite sobering that my military pension almost equates to the take-home wage of my team members.

 

[muttywhitedog]

Write to your MP and ask him to lobby the relevant secretary of state to actually talk to the unions.

I wish! My Tory MP has a 20K+ majority and there's not a cat in hells chance he'll be beaten. It stayed deep blue in the 1997 rout.

 

[Deltaitem]

I wish! My Tory MP has a 20K+ majority and there's not a cat in hells chance he'll be beaten. It stayed deep blue in the 1997 rout.

As Bill and Ted would say, Bogus!

 

[Deltaitem]

PS good luck with the strike. I for one support you 100%

 

[mild mannered janitor]

My AO staff make £22400 PA for determining nationality

And what do you earn ?

 

[muttywhitedog]

And what do you earn ?

Less than some of the SACs and less than all of the Cpls get paid. Significantly less than I did as a SNCO in 2014.

 

[Talk Wrench]

Less than some of the SACs and less than all of the Cpls get paid. Significantly less than I did as a SNCO in 2014.

You took the job knowing the T's and C's because it satisfied your personal circumstances. I can't fault you for doing that but I fail to see the validity of your complaint.

 

[muttywhitedog]

You took the job knowing the T's and C's because it satisfied your personal circumstances. I can't fault you for doing that but I fail to see the validity of your complaint.

I'm not complaining that I am poorly paid. I took the job knowing the T&C's and also that I had £11k a year RAF pension to top up my salary - many of my colleagues took the job many years ago and have seen their T&C changed so they pay more into pension funds for less return, take 5 years longer to qualify for 30 days Annual Leave, have their sick pay entitlement capped so that someone who has a bone marrow transplant (recovery time at least a year) is only paid for 6 months instead of 12.

I'm out for the poor sods who have seen their pay rise by around 10% total in the last 8 years, whilst a bog cleaner has seen their salary increase by almost 50% in the same period. I'm out because my Tory council have increased council tax by 50% over the past 8 years. I'm out because a return train ticket from Stamford to Peterborough (prices set by this Govt) has risen by over 50% over the past 8 years.

This Govt are fecking hypocrites. They raise the things they can influence by large amounts year on year, whilst telling the folk who work for them that they must exercise restraint, or undergo efficiencies (ie do more with less).

 

[Talk Wrench]

What percentage of Passport Office workers are using foodbanks?

Interestingly, foodbanks began springing up under Teflon Tony's tenure in the year 2000 and since then, the UK's population has grown from just shy of 59 million to approximately 68 million. Does the increase in population correlate to the percentage use of foodbanks in the UK?

I've also been surprised to learn just how widespread food banks are across the EU, particularly in the more socialist leaning high taxation countries so more taxation doesn't solve the problem.

 

[Cornish_Pikey]

Does the increase in population also correlate to the shortages in the NHS. I'd say so.

It's a shocking lack of underinvestment in facilities and personnel that is making the shortages. The National Grid is groaning but we keep building ever more houses/factories/offices and connecting them up.

More people always makes for more of everything, crime up, homelessness up, everything that is caused by more people is up.

However, as long as large businesses keep making record profits then all is good in the world.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/business/energy-environment/exxon-chevron-oil-gas-profit.html

Shell and BP face tough job of keeping customers and investors happy as profits roll in

The oil giants will also have to contend with intensifying calls to put more money into clean energy

www.theguardian.com

Shell’s figures will be suitably eye-watering: adjusted annual profits are expected to come in around $83bn (£67bn) against $55bn a year ago, including around $19bn in the final quarter of the year, against $16.3bn in the same period of 2021.

 

[busby1971]

I find it hard to rationalise how people complain about the government putting up charges and taxes whilst wanting rather large pay increases for government workers.

Average private sector wage rises this year are about 6% so why should these workers pay more tax, only for government workers to get a better deal.

If passport office workers want more money they could always look for a better paying role, of course there’d be no CARE pension or 30 days holiday nor an extra bank holiday, and if you think only 6 months sick pay is a bad thing take a look at SSP rates, because that is what a lot of private sector workers get.

But this shouldn’t be about Private v Public Sector, you’ve got a right to strike and I hope you feel you made your point.

 

[Captain Kirk]

I think the government is handling this quite well. People are entitled to strike, so let them. Most will not paid whilst they strike, but it’s free leave/ holidays, so they can get off and enjoy themselves. You have had free time off without affecting your leave balance, so you have a chilled workforce when they come back to work.
Your average stand-in fireman or ambulance driver gets paid less than your striker, it’s mainly JRs, who are intelligent enough to see the oddities of this situation; it’s this person who I feel for.
Any CS who wants to strike is welcome to do so, but when did it become illegal or immoral to jump to a better paying job in the private sector?
Oh, perhaps it’s the T&C? Good pension, free course, a chance to develop.
The government won’t look the bogeyman for long when people have to use annual leave to look after their kids, I think eventually we’ll see Robin Hood and his men finding it difficult to find food banks.
Anyway, I demand a 10% rise, my own personal sh1tter at work, and equal rights for ugly fat xxmen.
I just hope it was explained that in the bigger picture they are reducing their once generous pensions, I bet the £100k union ‘operatives’ never explained that. With every inch eventually comes a foot….comrades.
Power to the people, Wolfy!

 

[Captain Kirk]

Does the increase in population also correlate to the shortages in the NHS. I'd say so.

It's a shocking lack of underinvestment in facilities and personnel that is making the shortages. The National Grid is groaning but we keep building ever more houses/factories/offices and connecting them up.

More people always makes for more of everything, crime up, homelessness up, everything that is caused by more people is up.

However, as long as large businesses keep making record profits then all is good in the world.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/business/energy-environment/exxon-chevron-oil-gas-profit.html

Shell and BP face tough job of keeping customers and investors happy as profits roll in

The oil giants will also have to contend with intensifying calls to put more money into clean energy

www.theguardian.com

Shell’s figures will be suitably eye-watering: adjusted annual profits are expected to come in around $83bn (£67bn) against $55bn a year ago, including around $19bn in the final quarter of the year, against $16.3bn in the same period of 2021.

A basic education in commerce. If you tax them til they pop they’ll move their tax base… then ZERO tax.
North Sea is not being developed because why generate £1 just to lose £0.7, then have to pay people.

 

[muttywhitedog]

THE PERFECT DAY FOR HIM

6:00 Alarm.
6:30 Massive satisfying sh!t while reading the sports section
7:00 Breakfast: steak and eggs, coffee and toast, all cooked by semi-naked, buxom wench.
7:30 Limo arrives
7:45 Several beers en-route to airport
8:30 Flight in personal Lear Jet
9:30 Limo to Resort Golf Club (blow job en-route)
9:45 Play front nine - 2 under
11:45 Lunch: steak and lobster, 3 beers and a bottle of Dom Perignon
12:15 Blow job
12:30 Play back nine - 4 under
2:15 Limo back to the airport (several bourbons)
2:30 Fly to Bahamas--nap en-route
3:30 Late afternoon fishing excursion with nude all female crew.
4:30 Land world record Marlin (1234lbs) - on light tackle
5.00 Fly home, massage, and hand job by naked super model.
6:45 Sh!t, Shower and Shave
7:00 Watch news: Hated politician assassinated
7:30 Dinner: lobster appetizers, Dom Perignon (1953), big juicy filet steak followed by ice-cream served on a big pair of tits
9:00 Napoleon Brandy and Havana cigar in front of wall-size TV as you watch football game
9:30 Sex with three women (all with lesbian tendencies).
11:00 Massage and Jacuzzi with tasty pizza snacks and a cleansing beer
11:30 A night cap blow job
11:45 In bed alone
11:50 A 22 second fart which changes note 4 times and forces the dog to leave the room
11:51 Laugh yourself to sleep

and back to work in the morning

Thanks for the suggestion TB - I bloody wish! However, I decided that instead of a 6am alarm call, I'd stay in bed until 7. The rest of my strike day was as follows:

7am - Breakfast. Slice of toast & coffee.
8am - Took dog out for a long walk in woods. Got back around 10.
11am - Dropped wife & son off in town as they were both working until 5:30. Nipped into Waitrose for a free coffee.
12 - Watched PMQs for a giggle. Rishy really cant cope with Kier's questioning. Had beef & black pepper sausage sandwich for lunch.
1pm - into garage for a couple of hours' chainsaw action cutting logs for my multifuel - now have enough cut for this month.
3pm - Finished watching Jack Ryan on Prime (last 1.5 episodes). Well worth it if you havent watched it already!
5.30 - Collected the workers and then cooked tea. Steak, but alas no BJ!
7:00 - Out for evening stroll with dog for an hour.
8:00 - Corrie.
9:00 - S, S & S. Brew.
10:00 - Diary updated. News, then bed, ready for the 6am alarm call and the 45 minute commute to be in work for 7:30am. Deep joy!

 

[Vushtrri]

Fire Brigade strike, Paramedics and others strike…high time Coppers were allowed to take industrial action..