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Postage Strikes really kicking in now!

money haemorrhaging to temp agency's needs sorting because a nurse is better off leaving the NHS and working bank shifts at precisely the the same hospital doing the same job for more money

Same in lots of industries now including carework and cleaners. It just goes to show the money exists it's just in the wrong places.

When I worked in care we had regular agency workers who were paid more and cost more due to the agency taking a fee.
Yet they couldn't do as much as the full time employed staff.
I knew a few staff members who quit and went to agencies because the money was better.
Same at my current job, there's cleaners who aren't employed by the company but don't have the full training to be able to do the full job.
Broken!
 
Same in lots of industries now including carework and cleaners. It just goes to show the money exists it's just in the wrong places.

When I worked in care we had regular agency workers who were paid more and cost more due to the agency taking a fee.
Yet they couldn't do as much as the full time employed staff.
I knew a few staff members who quit and went to agencies because the money was better.
Same at my current job, there's cleaners who aren't employed by the company but don't have the full training to be able to do the full job.
Broken!

You're absolutely right, there is so much wasted money.

I know people who have trained on the NHS and left to work for an agency who supply nurses to the NHS.

That should at least be legislated for whereby the agency have to pay back the training costs.
 
My old man was a union man, got him into more trouble than it was worth!
Nurses who leave and go on agency is a joke, shouldn’t happen. You can’t blame them though.
Daughter has just left her job as a teacher and gone to work for the NHS as a recruitment manager, she will do a good job for the NHS.

Me, if I wasn’t happy somewhere I moved on. Talent like mine must be payed for😂

 
I’ve been desperately trying not to post on this thread but sometimes you’ve got to bite..,

“If you are unhappy then look for another job”. These type of comments really show total ignorance of the situation of a lot of public sector jobs. Nursing, teaching etc are all in the situation of finding it impossible to recruit as the pay is cut year on year. People have left in droves. Literally no one is applying for some positions as you can’t live on the salary. I teach kids who’s families receive more in benefits than I earn as an experienced teacher. In the last 12 years I’ve had more than 40 staff leave my small department. Most of which have now left the profession. One guy managed to last less than 3 days. The quality of the trainee teachers we are currently getting is really poor. (There are undoubtedly some great ones but the training targets have been missed for 10 years plus so anyone with a pulse is considered)

The same people who announce themselves fans of the free market then come out with the “but it’s a vocation” crap and demand people do it for next to nothing. Recruitment agencies are making an absolute killing but even they can’t get hold of staff at the moment.

The other line that winds me up is the “you knew the pay and conditions when you started”. That’s precisely the point. The pay in real terms is now dramatically less and the conditions have worsened.

Neil conveniently overlooked the 15% pay rise BT engineers have just been awarded. Why was that awarded? Presumably because otherwise staff would leave.

Why would anyone want to train as a nurse? Three years of uni fees and you have to work for free on the wards? If any job should have a paid apprenticeship route into it then it should be nursing. Nurses have no chance of getting 19% as a pay rise but where should they draw the line after year on year pay cuts?

This isn’t a one off situation where we all need to pull together to get through it. Services have been deliberately underfunded for 10+ years and it’s finally snapped. People moaning about the nurses should really ask themselves why this is the first time ever that they’ve been on strike.

We’ve got an ageing population. Like it or not that means we have to spend significantly more on health services. We need more health staff and the only way to get that is to pay what’s needed.
 
My daughter just left her job as a teacher at a local college, terrible place to work. She tried her best and took students to award ceremonies who she helped to improve themselves.
Then there were the kids that would lie and try to get her in trouble with no back up from the college, not a good place to work.
An opportunity arose so she got out of teaching, a big loss for the college and the students.

You have to help yourself sometimes.
 
Never went to uni but wonder if it’s a bit like Delta Tau Chi frat from animal house….lol

Personally, If I don’t like working for a company, I just move on.

There are many private sector organisations where employees don’t get a standard annual pay rise for several years, It’s definitely not a gimme!
Unions asking for way above inflation as they still see standard increases as pay cuts … 🙄

The last 3 companies I’ve worked for you have to provide evidence on your performance appraisal that you have achieved your set goals before you are even considered for a small pay increase.

Situations were employer is laying people off… I would never dream of walking in and asking for a pay increase during such times.

Also ref military:
Speaking from experience
1. Money is crap but you know what your signing up for so don’t whinge too much
2. You work loads of hours - unpaid there is no paid OT
3. Away from home and family a lot
4. Can be dangerous work at times - no danger money..though not expected ..lol
Remember getting (like many others) performance appraisals. They used to say you deserve an ‘A’ but I have to give you a ‘B’
Reason being, the higher grade made you eligible for more money via a command course for promotion.
Whitehall MOD didn’t have the budget.
So your options were suck it up or leave.
You learned to live within your means and took it on the chin ref limited career progression.
Hospitality and Retail?
Industry is royally screwed
Notoriously under paid…getting worse but most try and manage by working more hours and sometimes work multiple jobs.
Or they just move on…

The country is in dire straights right now and need to sort economy.
The timing is **** poor..
Don’t see how striking and demanding more will resolve the current situation.

I think people need to catch a grip.
Not like your living in a tent.
Theres always someone worse off than yourself.
 
There is always some else worse off. 100% true but it shouldn’t be a race to the bottom. The armed forces have the **** ripped out of them in terms of pay. It’s shameful

Trust me there is never a good time to ask for a pay rise according to the government. Most people aren’t asking for pay rises but pay that keeps up with the cost of living.

If you can’t fill jobs in whatever industry you are involved in then pay and conditions need to be examined. (So do benefits).

Our TAs get 16k a year. Living and working in central London. The government has now decided they have to be graduates. Guess how many people apply….
 
Neil
Enjoy your weekend off. Thanks unions
Have some holidays to take. Thanks unions
Have a works pension. Thanks unions
Get paid when sick. Thanks unions
And **** loads more but I’m ****ed

have no job and thus none of the above - thanks unions!

and I think you’ll find the bank and finance sector are more responsible for the above rather than unions! I could go on but … 😂
 
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Neil -

Neil - you are wrong about nurses . There are 47 nurses vacancies in my old job - not one applicant after being advertised 3 times - they take your advice and go elsewhere and earn more 😀 nurses leaving in droves .

good on them! Eventually the market will fix what they should be paid.
 
As for the postal & rail strikes . . . . . I get the premise. They're teaching the government & fat cat shareholders a lesson right? Whilst the crosshairs might be focused on government it's the public who are getting shot.

The unions know full well that Whitehall has it's own fleet and will be able to get to work during strike time. This has been contrived and planned to stop normal people getting gifts at Christmas and to inconvenience them at a time when they'll most want to visit loved ones. They are FULLY aware who they are punishing but the public are seen as fair collateral and leverage. That's pretty much as low as it gets.

the government IS the people, we pay for everything in tax, we vote for the party that becomes the government so you can’t seperate the two.

Fat cats - nobody fatter than the general secretary of CWU who earns 5 times what the highest paid postie earns!

the goon than runs the RMT doesn’t event come clean - taking a trump approach by saying he is paid 84000 after tax person and benefits - feh? so he is paid well north of 100K, likely around £140K more than 5 and a half times the average rail employee!

and Dave - what about scotrail? Nationalised on strike and service worse than it’s ever been under private ownership. remember when British RaIl ran the train OMG. No thanks.
 
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I can't honestly think of a Government in my 48 years who truly reflected the people.

For the record I don't like politicians and believe most become self serving once they start eating from the trough.

I think what you vote for and what you get are two very different things irrespective of who's in charge.

So whilst we may all be represented by our MP's I'm not sure too many will agree that they feel reflected or served by them.

So I find it a hard stretch to suggest the Government ARE the people. They probably should be but the moment a political parties members start playing musical chairs with the leader it demonstrates that it's the party rather than the public being served.
 
The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.
To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.
To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.
Douglas Adams
 
The country is in dire straights right now and need to sort economy.
The timing is **** poor..
Don’t see how striking and demanding more will resolve the current situation.


This is the issue here and I think the Royal Mail striker's may well be cooking their own golden goose.

They are forcing huge losses on their own employer at a time when their competition is improving.
 
and Dave - what about scotrail? Nationalised on strike and service worse than it’s ever been under private ownership. remember when British RaIl ran the train OMG. No thanks.

It's not true nationalisation, yet. It'll be the same old staff. Even when franchises change the management doesn't. it's just the top level ceos that change and they barely do anything except get in the way of us running a decent service because they care more about the profit rather than actually moving the public.

Have you ever been standing there on a packed platform where a train has been 'cancelled' just to witness a train fly through non stop?
This is because £££ over people.
The TOC has to pay Network rail fines if a train is delayed or cancelled, every minute being a few thousand £. So in disruption services cut out stops or go empty for the entire journey just so the train doesn't arrive late and incur fines.

Whereas most of the staff on the ground want to run a service and help people get to where they need to be. There's been times where I've told control how platforms are crammed and people are being stranded but I've been told to just depart or skip the stops because it'll cost the company thousands.

I get called up if I'm 2 minutes late somewhere because they need to know why as it's cost them thousands. They want to know if it's my fault or network rails fault so they can move the blame and get thousands off Network Rail.
It's a joke considering the rail companies controllers are sitting in an office next to Network rails controllers with 10s of thousands of pounds flying between them in a blame game.

It should be a public service.
 
Just had a delivery and the self employed driver was telling me he is on £500 a day at the moment as they are so busy.
Looked well happy!
 
People who work in health care DO NOT want to strike, it goes against how they are wired but they are left with no choice in this country now especially after how they were ‘supported’ by the government during Covid. ‘Ppe will be with you shortly..’ I’ve talked to nurses who still won’t strike even though they should do but won’t because they can’t stop caring . That is how amazing these people are!!

Here’s another thing that’s broken. My wife is a midwife, they wanted a ballot for strike action to. A ballot must be mailed to be valid , no online vote is allowed . An ‘independent’ company controls the sending of ballot papers. 50% of the registered ballot must vote for it to be valid . Only 47% of ballot papers were delivered on the recent vote. 80% of those in that 47% voted for strike action. No strike allowed!! No media coverage of it ….

Read into that what you will. Happy Xmas!!
 
The TOC has to pay Network rail fines if a train is delayed or cancelled, every minute being a few thousand £. So in disruption services cut out stops or go empty for the entire journey just so the train doesn't arrive late and incur fines.
Schedule 8 Payments. I have no idea what behaviour the author thought these would do but the outcome is terrible.
Another outcome is when there has been a signalling issue, NR should pay the train operators. NR signallers can try to reduce the delay but need to drivers to be on side. But their bosses want the money.
I have worked both sides, NR and TOC. There were mighty projections about how many more journeys people would make, with infrastructure programmes in the many many billions to increase capacity.
Then COVID and remote working hit, and now the passengers are not coming back.
 
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