i work at a local hospital and will cross any picket line i come across

the people organising the strike can afford to do so while the ones most out of pocket are the ones being asked to lose a days pay
if i was sat in government i'd want 1 million of my employees losing a days pay every so often as the money saved will help towards the national debt but would cause me no personal hardship at all

Family 1st every time mate and you even say yourself you are'nt part fo any union so it's feck all to do with any picket.
I understand why they are doing it BUT ateod you aren't signed up so do the work get the extra £££££ and give yer family a decent xmas!

I've crossed a line and took grief for it but the reason i crossed was i didn't agree with the reasons for the strike in the first place, plus the union rep booked a holiday for that day and was paid anyway.

My missus works at a local hospital and she will be crossing the picket line.

A lot of people where she works don't even want to strike due to a days loss of wages which they can't afford, but feel forced into doing so as people who are striking appear to be making threatening remarks if they dont strike.

One woman, although not striking offered to take cups of warm tea and coffee out to the strikers with the probability of it being a cold day but it's been declined as she appears to be a "scab".

My missus has also been criticised, and much worse for not striking, and is now being faced with someone trying to stop her vehicle getting her into work..............not the wisest of moves as my missus will most likely knock them into next week............bless her

Take the money

You shouldn't be made to feel bad for not sharing the same opinion as someone. I don't always agree with strikes, as I think in many cases its the Unions trying to flex their muscles.
For every day a person strikes they lose about 0.5% of their yearly salary, plus the pension related stuff. In the end, people have really got to be certain that the strike will work for it to be worth it.

Also, striking because you want a 3% pay rise is just barmy. We'd all like a 3% pay rise, but at the moment people should accept that we're in difficult times. Some people will get a pay rise, but in general, most people are just happy to still have a job paying what it did a few years ago.

I agree that cost of living has gone up, but despite this I don't see people being any wiser about using their money. If anything there are more cars on the road, more people out on nights out in town, more people in the shops on a weekend.

Some people will be in truly dire situations, and will have lost one or both of the major incomes of their houses. I sympathise with them.

Take the money mate!

When I was unemployed it was the worst time of my life, and it helped teach me the value of having a job and earning as much as possible from this!

Surely an awesome christmas in your house is worth upsetting a few colleagues you don't really like anyway?!

my dad was on strike for a whole year 1984-1985 but in the end it didn't get the lad's anywhere if only the deputies had have come out with the lad's it would have been a totally different story she begged mcgregor to get them to work because she knew they were strong, but alas it created an i'm allright jack mentalilty and although i hate to say it she won, but workers are still paying for it today in both public and private sector, it creates a scenario where honest working people are terrified for their jobs and will do anything they are told to do that job, i won't be crossing any line because i am a union rep and my dad would never forgive me.

take the ££££££ and have a good xmas

And if the strikers are successful in forcing a better deal?

Presumably all those prepared to cross a picket line would donate their share to charity rather than being subsidised by those who were prepared to forego wages in order to obtain that deal?

I'm in a broadly similar situation. People where I work will be on strike, but I am not in a Union, and as such I don't think I could strike if I wanted to.

I am not entirely behind the strikes anyway, which I don't feel are well grounded in the real world. The union most people here are in were threatening to strike over pay negotiations last year in which they were asking for an 8% rise. It actually made me quite angry. I work in an organisation with an essentially finite pot of money to spend. An 8% pay rise would simply have meant that some jobs would have to go. That isn't the spirit I undersatnd unions to be in.

I have a public sector pension, and it's a very, very good deal in this climate. I don't, however, believe that it's sustainable and I've always had it on the understanding that I'll keep paying into it as long as it's a better deal than anything available privately, which it is. It is probably increasingly out of step with what happens in the outside world. That is, in part, compensation for the fact that my salary is a little lower than it would be for the same job in the private sector, but in truth my decision to be here instead of the private sector isn't financial anyway.

Furthermore, since I'm not paid by the hour anyway, but essentially paid to work until the job is done (invariably a lot more hours than it says on my basic contract) and I'd still have to do the same work next week anyway, nobody whatsoever would suffer except me. I wouldn't be witholding my labour, since the work will be done anyway.

Most unions are fairly sick puppies these days, being more motivated by the hunger for air time of their leaders and other political goals than by the interests of their members anyway. If that changed and they got back to doing what they're supposed to do, I'd be more interested. My wife recently left the union in question at this place after their total lack of interest in actual issues affecting their members became apparent, as they were clearly too busy trying to get on TV instead.

I support the right to strike, but I also support my right to make my own mind up on whether to join in.

Rant ends. For now.

On a related note, my current project has partners in universities in 14 countries. Several of them have been forced to take pay cuts over the last few months. I'll support my union when it shows some sensitivity to the realities a lot of people are facing in the employment market at the moment.

At a time when we're fighting cuts to the education budget, asking for spending increases on salaries and pensions smacks of self interest, rather than social justice to me.

Oops, I guess the rant didn't end.

As the son of a miner I could not bring myself to cross the picket line. Despite the fact I will lose a days wage and am not a member of the union. Also I was told last week that when my current fixed term contract with the NHS comes to an end on 31st March it will not be renewed and therefore I am on death row in terms of employment.
I just feel that if my colleagues feel as strongly as this about an issue then I should respect and honour their views.
When the self-interested guys at the top take meaningful cuts in wage and stop getting handed bonuses, then perhaps I can sympathise with the cuts and budget tightenings being implemented, filtering down and impacting on the people I work with day to day.

The Govt are coming back to the Unions with a better offer, But I still think the 30th will go ahead.

Why?

It will give the Govt an idea of the hatred the work force has of them and as the Govt dont want a winter of discontent they can then guage their new offer after the 30th

Ie Strong support of the strike = good offer
Poor support = take it or leave it offer.

If the OP thinks the Govt will do what they want then unfortunately that is their own opinion, but its what Cameron likes, a divided work force.
A work force that is stong and support s each other is what tthis government doesn't want.

I'll be out on the 30th striking for my terms and conditions.

BTW did you know that the same MPs who are attacking your pension have a pension too and their contribution is nil - work that out

Frankly, if anyone I work with here has the gall to try to compare what they're experiencing to the miners' strikes I'll slap them.

Re the canaries, I agree that the house of commons needs to get in line with what's happening to the rest of the country as well. Events in parliament are already in danger of becoming irrelevant to most people.

Do you think that there is widespread support outside the public sector for these strikes though?