'It’s not fair that a private sector worker on an average income would have to pay 37 percent of their take home pay into a pension pot to receive the same pension as a teacher who pays just 6.4 percent."But we didn't cause the finacial crisis, why should we be penalised?" Is another complaint:
It’s not fair that low paid private sector workers with no pensions pay the generous pension pots of public sector workers, despite having the same pressures on their incomes as everyone else.
It’s not fair that public sector pensions should be ring-fenced whilst private sector employees, who are actually paying down our deficit, have seen theirs disappear over the years.'
'Nurses, teachers and civil servants may not have caused the financial crisis – but neither did hairdressers, butchers or secretaries. So why should one group take a financial hit and not the other? Far from the government creating a divide between the public and private sectors, the unions are responsible for that divide by insisting that their members deserve special consideration.'Donna rachel Edmunds at the Commentator has more examples and some solutions, here's an extract:
'perhaps it’s time that the private sector illustrates that, without the wealth creating sector of the economy, the country would quickly grind to a halt.
Close all the supermarkets, turn off all the utilities and stop all the petrol pumps. Builders: stop building those starter homes that so many younger people wish to buy. Bankers: don’t fill the cash machines this morning. Bakers: why bake bread for a nation that demands you do so to pay the salaries that buy it?
Most importantly: pay no taxes. Too often over the last few years we have heard ever more shrill demands that the government pick up the bill for all sorts of preferential treatment for the public sector, with apparently no realisation that it is not the government footing the bill, but ordinary people on average wages. A tax strike by the private sector would soon illustrate how depended the government is on the private sector.'
'What is at the heart of the dispute?Near the end of the piece you do find this line 'The airline has said flights from London City Airport will not be affected, and long-haul flights to and from Gatwick will also operate..'
In November, BA reduced the number of cabin crew on long haul flights from 15 to 14 and introduced a two-year pay freeze from 2010.'
'- Unite The Union release: Only nine crew turned up for work today out of 1,100.Do read the whole piece and compare it with the BBC's acceptance of UNITE's claims.
- BA Strike Fact: Without even having to verify the number of British Airways cabin crew who reported for duty, Unite The Union is releasing conflicting information. In a public statement Unite is stating only 9 BA cabin crew members reported for work, however in a Text Message sent to all BA cabin crew members of Unite, the union stated this “only 26 crew reported for duty today.“ Was it 9 members or 26 members?
...
- BA Strike Fact: There is no evidence of any British Airways aircraft having broken an emergency exit door. Unite has refused to reply to enquiries citing this incident or the flight it occurred on. If indeed this occurred, I’d like Unite The Union to please state what flight this occurred on.
- Unite The Union release: Only nine Heathrow flights have gone with passengers.
- BA Strike Fact: Unite the Union claims only nine flight departed with passengers, but goes on to only list seven flights … including Amsterdam, Dubai, Entebee, Frankfurt, Miami, Paris, and Prague. Again, without having to do much investigation, in the process of researching the passenger experience during the BA Strike I have heard from 11 people who flew with British Airways yesterday … none of which flew on the seven flights above. I heard from passengers who flew with BA to Madrid, New York (x3 on 2 separate flights), Boston, Newark, Munich, Milan, San Francisco, Zurich and Glasgow. Given that Unite states that BA 207, a 747-400 operating between London Heathrow and Miami, flew with passengers, a minimum crew for that flight alone exceeds 9 crew…, which leads to again questioning Unite’s statement, that only 9 crew turned up for work. Further more, volunteer crews are not operating on 747 aircraft, further evidence that Unite is unable to keep its facts straight … even within its own press release.'
''There was this constant air of menace. At one stage a message was posted on the BA cabin crew internet forum that ''named and shamed'' the pilots who had volunteered to retrain so that they could work as cabin crew during a strike.
Several were warned to be careful of the food cabin crew served when they returned to work. A lot of them were totally freaked out by that. This is a highly unionised business.
If you don't do as the union says you are ostracised. And that isn't easy in a job that so depends on team work – on-board and off the plane.
"Being abroad, sometimes for several days if you are waiting to work on a return flight, you are cooped up with your colleagues. '
'Inside Heathrow, she says, menace and unease are everywhere. When BA suggests a new service Unite generally instructs its members to ignore it.
"Ridiculous things,'' Suzy says. "We were asked to distribute hot towels on short haul. Unite said no. We got on board and everyone was in a state. "
"'Jobs for the British' strikes to hit power supplies."You mean that strikes at power stations may lead to power cuts, "No shit, Sherlock"
