This is an interesting dispute and comrade Lynch is a breath of fresh air.

The unions make one good point - the share of profits is out of kilter - you cannot have huge profits and shareholder distribution and then say we can't pay the workers more money.

On the other hand you can't have no compulsary redundancies - effectively saying all workers have a job for life even if that role has been modernised out - that show the union in bad light and gives Boris and his mates ammunition against Labour and their close connection with the unions.

Boris needs a summer of union strikes - it will distract from all his other behavioural mistakes.

Hi Sal, I thought you'd emigrated !

The current dispute on the railways will be just the first of many strikes through the rest of this year and beyond.
With inflation now at around 10%, for any worker to be expected to survive with no increase in income or a paltry 1.5/ 2% is impossible.
People need to find some additional income from somewhere, either by achieving a reasonable pay rise or, by moving jobs.

The private sector will take care of itself but, the public sector will be the biggest test of "us and them".

Of course, increasing public sector pay could mean increasing taxes, which are already at record levels overall. However, there is no doubt they Johnson and Sunak have been building up a fair old "war chest" so, the increases in taxation could be mitigated.

I think your right about a wave of strikes suiting the Tories more than they suit Labour though, strikes will be used as a stick to beat The Labour party with and it's therefore little wonder that Johnson was suggesting that the "public" get ready for the long haul.
This could rumble on right up until the next General Election.

I'm in the private sector and I'll have to survive on a 2% increase.
Public sector workers on average are better paid than those in the private, especially in low skilled jobs.
They can also retire earlier and on better pensions. Oh and on average they work fewer hours and have longer holidays.
But apart from that they are really suffering

Same old tories. Always wasting billions then blaming somebody else and taking from the poor and pandemic key workers

£4Bn wasted on PPE
£11Bn wasted servicing debt because Sunak didn't act
£40Bn wasted on track & trace
£10Bn handed to criminals
£6Bn wasted on overheating armoured cars
£100M wasted on tagging criminals

And at the same time removing the cap on fat cats pay

Yep levelling up, were all in it together

Never, ever trust the tory.

Yeah, with the public purse supposedly closed, you could be surprised that the pensioners ar in line for an eye watering 10% increase, plus the various other bits of help.
However, when you realise that the vast majority of the blue rinse brigade vote Tory, it all becomes much easier to understand. Cynical move, you bet it is.

As for the private vs public sector, its worth remembering that the public sector have barely come out of their 10 year austerity "pay freeze" so, they are "due" something.
At least you would think so ?

What annoys me is that my wife who is in a union and the private sector has gone on strike along with the other union members. They have been able to obtain a better offer but when they do I have never come across any of the non union members not accepting the improvements.
On a slightly off topic but the two by-elections were set for today by the government, I wonder if this date had anything to do with de Pfeffel leaving the country after all it is not like him.

They are "due" no more than anyone else IMO. In my industry the purse strings are are just as tightly closed. However I enjoy my job and anyway at 62 I am too old(lazy) for retraining.

Do you mean public sector pay? If so you are wrong

Well, Lynch has certainly exposed the media for the establishment mouthpieces they are.

Don’t forget the Conservative sacrificial junior ministers. It’s something of a record being called out as being a liar 17 times on tv

I don’t agree about the comment about you can’t have no compulsory redundancies.
You can make jobs redundant- Many who have worked a long time will take non-compulsory for the package. If jobs no longer exist then you offer to retrain those workers elsewhere. It’s more than doable.
The modernisation that the government is talking about makes it sound as if they are putting in fancy new equipment- what it means in reality is people working more weekends for no more money.