30/11 Strikes.

Ahleckz said:
My Student Union is supporting the strike, and has suggested that we get involved. I've just emailed the President to ask why we (the Student Union represents the student body) are supporting this and what steps were taken to find out that this course of action is what the wider student body want.
I await a reply.
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They are supporting it because the Unions supported them in the no fees campaign.

Solidarity in numbers.
 
RDM said:
Voter turnouts and suggested voting directions would both be indications that they are less democratic than they should be.
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Oh dear god! Low voter turnouts is not undemocratic! And niether is suggested voting diretions, or are you telling me you've never had an MP or councillor say "vote for me!"

Do I really have to lecture you on democracy?
 
Dolph said:
Another issue comes from ComRes: 56%
agreed that public sector workers "have to
take their share of the economic pain
which means accepting reductions in their
pension provision". Just 28% disagree and
16% say they don't know.

taken from guardian live feed.
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Which is exactly what is wrong with this country, people listening to fools like you.
 
cm1179 said:
about this time last year, i had some garden work done by a bloke in his late 40's/early 50's who used to work in a forge in the same period as you are referring to. i don't know whether he was exagerrating or not but he told me that something as simple as there being no tea bags would cause a shut down ie someone who should shout 'machines off' and people would literally switch the machines off or drop tools and sit there until it was sorted. he said it was ridiculous but people did it because of the power the unions had.
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Last time I checked my calendar it was the year 2011.

Here's an anecdote for you.

My local vicar said that sometime around 1300 BC this chap called Moses came down a mountain with 10 commandments one of which was "keep the Sabbath holy" and that's why big supermarkets can't stay open late on Sundays. I said it was ridiculous but he says it's possible because of the power God had.
 
Von Smallhausen said:
It would be interesting to see why it is more efficient today but I doubt, given the previous furore over more lapsed checks, that it is due to not checking people coming in.
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i would say it's more efficient because the people who usually do the job are complacent or, to put it another way, couldn't give a ****

happens in all walks of life. i remember at my last place, we had about 4 temps come in for maternity cover for our receptionist who had been there for about 7 yrs. they all ran rings around her once they got to know the system and made for a good bit of eye candy so it was win win.
 
amigafan2003 said:
Last time I checked my calendar it was the year 2011.

Here's an anecdote for you.

My local vicar said that sometime around 1300 BC this chap called Moses came down a mountain with 10 commandments one of which was "keep the Sabbath holy" and that's why big supermarkets can't stay open late on Sundays. I said it was ridiculous but he says it's possible because of the power God had.
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....ok someone hasn't read the trail
 
Von Smallhausen said:
It would be interesting to see why it is more efficient today but I doubt, given the previous furore over more lapsed checks, that it is due to not checking people coming in.
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Actually, it's probably nothing more complicated that throughput being 40% down on a normal day.
 
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Freefaller said:
Ah well... I'll just have to buy lots of property then or work till I'm 90... or transfer to the public sector!! :p
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it's never too late. speak to a pensions adviser. if you're in a position to pay more now than you could have done 10 yrs ago then you wont see much of a difference. or gamble on a high risk.
 
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amigafan2003 said:
Oh dear god! Low voter turnouts is not undemocratic!
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A vote that can only garner a turnout of 30% is hardly indicative of a "highly democratic" organisation.


amigafan2003 said:
And niether is suggested voting diretions, or are you telling me you've never had an MP or councillor say "vote for me!"
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Would you consider it highly democratic if your voting card for a general election came with instructions to vote for the sitting MP?

amigafan2003 said:
Do I really have to lecture you on democracy?
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You could try but I doubt you are qualified.
 
The problem here is self inflicted, really.

We keep voting for the governments who will spend the most, who will put the most billions into various schemes, inflating the size of the public sector year on year with absolutely no let-up until very recently. The Great British Pleblic get a raging boner when politicians talk about pumping NHS spending by 10 gazailobillion.

But the problem is, when you flood a relatively less accountable and poorly managed sector (ie who operate on an essentially 'spend it or lose' budgetary policy) with new money, what are they going to do? What are they going to do if you force them to spend their budgets or find their budgets reduced the next year? They're going to spend it asap, of course - including paying themselves more and hire or promote their friends into higher paying positions, and get lazy with procurement.

Then once the government finds itself short on money, the public sector is the most obvious sector to feel the pain, because it is funded by the government. If we had a leaner, more efficient and more accountable public sector, we wouldn't have this problem.

Is it really a surprise to them that the public sector is being 'squeezed' the hardest because their employer is finding itself short on cash? Has everyone been oblivious to the essentially uncontrolled inflation of the public sector (in terms of spending and new hires) in the last two decades?

Well done, voters.
 
topshot said:
My hours vary depending on project. Usually 8-5, usually have some sort of prep to do at home for next day. Because i dont want to teach :confused:

Teachers dont exactly get it bad do they?
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So what's your problem? We have a right to strike and as Ben Goldacre said this morning "If you worry your local school's a bit poo, I suggest that you also object to a 4 year pay freeze for teachers at a time of 5% inflation."

I love my job and work wise it's often feast or famine. When I'm in school I work 7:45-4:45 and I have a 15 minute break at lunch as I always have work to do. Each night I generally spend 90 marking. At the weekend I typically spend 6 hours on a Sunday. I work that out at 66 hours a week, works out just over £7 an hour. Still an easy gig?
 
RDM said:
A vote that can only garner a turnout of 30% is hardly indicative of a "highly democratic" organisation.
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As I said before, low voter turnout has nothing to do with how democratic an organisation is. Low voter turnout is however a barmoter of voter engagement.

Would you consider it highly democratic if your voting card for a general election came with instructions to vote for the sitting MP?
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Voting cards do not have voting suggestions printed on them as stipulated by the electoral reform services, who control and run all official union ballots.

Material may accompany the voting papers to argue the case one way or another (from both parties) but that's no different than when I got my polling card through the post for the general election accompanied by Lib Dem, Conservative and Labour party flyers.

You could try but I doubt you are qualified.
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Perfectly qualified thank you - several qualifactions in Politics at various educational levels. But as this is the internet I could be making that up so stating whether someone is qualified or not to speak ona particular subject is like peeing into a headwind.
 
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jojothemonkey69 said:
So what's your problem? We have a right to strike and as Ben Goldacre said this morning "If you worry your local school's a bit poo, I suggest that you also object to a 4 year pay freeze for teachers at a time of 5% inflation."

I love my job and work wise it's often feast or famine. When I'm in school I work 7:45-4:45 and I have a 15 minute break at lunch as I always have work to do. Each night I generally spend 90 marking. At the weekend I typically spend 6 hours on a Sunday. I work that out at 66 hours a week, works out just over £7 an hour. Still an easy gig?
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Not easy or hard, just different to other jobs. You have an awful lot of time off in the year, too.
 
cm1179 said:
it's never too late. speak to a pensions adviser. if you're in a position to pay more now than you could have done 10 yrs ago then you wont see much of a difference. or gamble on a high risk.
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Delvis said:
Just get a standard pension, anything, just to get the ball rolling.

Either get one with a fixed 'interest', or get one that follows the market trends (so it can be good or bad)
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Yeah I've got a few months of a loan to pay back and I'll definitely start contributing to it. I'm in a position where I can probably afford to pay into it a little more. :)
 
Hatter The Mad said:
The problem here is self inflicted, really.

We keep voting for the governments who will spend the most, who will put the most billions into various schemes, inflating the size of the public sector year on year with absolutely no let-up until very recently. The Great British Pleblic get a raging boner when politicians talk about pumping NHS spending by 10 gazailobillion.

But the problem is, when you flood a relatively less accountable and poorly managed sector (ie who operate on an essentially 'spend it or lose' budgetary policy) with new money, what are they going to do? What are they going to do if you force them to spend their budgets or find their budgets reduced the next year? They're going to spend it asap, of course - including paying themselves more and hire or promote their friends into higher paying positions, and get lazy with procurement.
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It just doesn't work like that though.

They are of course valid issues in there, but your causation is incorrect.

Hatter The Mad said:
Then once the government finds itself short on money, the public sector is the most obvious sector to feel the pain, because it is funded by the government. If we had a leaner, more efficient and more accountable public sector, we wouldn't have this problem.
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It's under political control, and ministerial control. The problem does not originate with the service.

Hatter The Mad said:
Is it really a surprise to them that the public sector is being 'squeezed' the hardest because their employer is finding itself short on cash? Has everyone been oblivious to the essentially uncontrolled inflation of the public sector (in terms of spending and new hires) in the last two decades?

Well done, voters.
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No it isn't a surprise, but not exactly for the reasoning you profess.
 
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