Bang on. The one thing that rarely gets mentioned is how Thatcher and, in fairness, the political classes have allowed a major fracture to occur in the average working relationship. Before the 1980s employees could expect that their loyalty would be rewarded or that's how people felt. When the relaxation of employment law came it made it much easier for companies in the UK to fold/close down business operations in the UK and move them overseas. This isn't the case in countries like Germany and France where employment law dictates that such sweeping and wholesale changes to local economies have a much more stringent process for this that normally hinders such multinationals. In the UK we don't have that kind of employment protection.

As this happened so the UK workforce has realised that if you commit yourself to a company there is no guarantee that you will share in its success. Even companies which are successful in the UK have seen some of their operations move overseas. One of my recent employes was a £250m business in Liverpool which has an 80% market share, year-on-year growth in double figures (for over 20 years) and makes a lot of money from it. Its parent company, Danone, moves in and is slowly moving personnel and production from the Liverpool site into its cheaper subsidiaries and factories overseas. That is the company's prerogative in the modern day of course, however, this is a very successful business built by talent and individuals from the Liverpool area, providing lots of jobs to the local area through it.

Organisations want commitment and effort from its workforce but when work is so transient it undermines that, creates insecurity within individuals and eventually long-term mental health problems for the UK workforce and social problems that we have to pick up as taxpayers. Alternatively we ignore them and then face epidemics of whole communities that slowly die and become trapped in the welfare cycle that the political classes then demonise.

The Sin Bin should be rename Jurrasic Park

Flying pickets, the Closed Shop and intimidation.

Now we are seeing the REAL "socialist" come out.

Spot on.

Does it?

What happened to democracy and freedom of choice?

True. A similar paradox arises when large companies and multi-national corporations demand tax breaks and employ tax avoidance techniques.

Those companies demand a well-educated, healthy and secure workforce while simultaneously trying very hard to avoid paying for the welfare policies that will provide them with such a workforce.

No-one forces people to work for a particular company. Last time I checked, slavery was still illegal.

I really cannot understand this feeling that the employee is somehow "entitled" to anything.

I've always been very simple about these matters. I go to work, I get paid. If I believe this is a good arrangment I stay, if I believe it isn't, or believe I could get a better one, I move.

It's not rocket science. I've never had a chip on my shoulder, never thought the world owed me a living. The last 3 years are a classic case - a wage freeze, coupled with inflation is effectively a pay cut. I have two choices- to stay in the current role or to leave.

As for the employer, well they will pay the employee whatever is needed to maximise profit. And why shouldn't they? They are the ones taking the risks, they should make the decisions.

?

When i look to join a company, i look at the pay, terms/conditions etc.
If i'm not happy i look elsewhere.
Why would i join a company i wasn't happy with and then moan and strike when i knew what i was getting into.
Quite recently my company went on strike about not getting the 6% pay rise it asked for, when companies are shutting left right and centre and people are taking pay cuts i personally found it vulgar asking for 6%.

I was quite happy to not get a rise at all, my opinion, my right.

Besides i don't go to work to make friends, if i upset people who disagree with it so be it, my life, my mortgage, my principles and i can easily look at myself in the mirror.

I personally think you're a wa-k-r if you feel the need to force your way of thinking on to me, there's a name for people like you and i didn't think it was anything to do with socialism, unless it's the Hitler form of socialism you subscribe to?

i'm confused. thatcher created a load of wage slaves? how did these people pay for stuff before they became slaves? where did they live? how did they live?
or are we just in "waaahhhh, she's a woman and she's a tory" territory. again.

Contempt, even better. My work is done.

Oh he's making it up as he goes along. Wounded service man, where on earth did you get that from ?? Dope.

You must be a teacher. No wonder our kids can't read and write, Tony Blairs legacy. Plus 2 wars he got into, and you have a pop at Thatcher, hypocrite !

BT were making a profit when they were sold off for peanuts.