Sal Paradise wrote:
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.