Sorry about the double post, that'll teach me not to read all replies.
Anyhoo, we complained about our pay when the thirteenth (yes you read right, thirteenth) Government report into our pay and conditions stated that we already got paid too much and that the Service needed modernised (ie less funding). The previous twelve reports all stated that we where paid far too little for what we do and that a major pay increase was warrented. We then settled on the lowest of those recommened rises which would have given us a 15% pay rise which would have more than made up for years of poor rises.
The Government stuck by it's assertion that they didn't want to give us anything, would not negotiate and we where forced to strike. Just a pity we where led down the garden path by a Labourite lackey. It is forgotten that we where called parasites for wanting 15% but the Government tried to hush up awarding themselves a 24% rise. Here endeth the lesson on who the real parasites are.