>

Somewhere, Gandhi and Naworji are rolling in the grave
People have been asked to live on too little for too long. Nurses shouldn't need foodbanks to feed themselves and their families. We need to stop trying to build our economy from the top down, we don't need a handful of billionaire CEO's, we need a working class with a good quality of life. >

Yeah like venezuela >

In what regard would that be like Venezuela? >

Because the assumption that ending with the rich people will end up poverty is all wrong and all countries who do that (socialism) have a poor class bigger and with less opportunities. >

What are you on about? >

Economy dude >

That doesn't really narrow it down. >

Im sorry you think that >

You don't think 'economy' is an incredibly broad topic? Okay. >

You want me to explain socialism vs free market in a reddit comment? You just said something that everybody thinks (end with billionaires) but is all wrong. There are more billionaires in USA and poor people all around latin america are risking their lives to go there. In Venezuela they ended up with all megarich and now the country has no business, no employment and is basically a hell on earth. >

I will be on strike tomorrow. I'm not a Nurse or a Teacher, a Police officer or a Firefighter; I don't drive an Ambulance, however, I'm a Civil Servant working for the Scottish Government with over 30 years of service. This is the first time I will have gone on strike in relation to Pay despite being a Union Member (and previously official) for each one of those 31 years. We haven't had a meaningful payrise in over 10 years, roughly speaking we are effectively earning in real terms something like 25-30% less than we were in 2010. Enough is enough. >

Because whilst Ukraine and Corona hurt everyone, we also votes to be a shit-ton poorer by going for Brexit.
People who voted Brexit should be legally forbidden from striking, because lower wages is exactly their fault. >

Well.... Inflation is around 10% all over Europe too, as well as the other parts of the world. We also haven't had a meaningful pay rise since 2010, a full six years before the referendum and around 10 years before actual Brexit. So hard to really blame it all on Brexit to be fair... >

The trouble is the government would argue it can't afford to give civil servants, nhs, teachers, firefighters, train drivers and bus drivers, customs workers, driving instructors and everyone else 15%+ pay rises.
I guess tax rises for all could cover it?  Or we could just put it all on the countries' credit card and let our kids sort it out?  Can't think of any other way?  Maybe take the wages off nurses or firefighter's  pay-packets to fund it?   Massive bond sales would just screw everyone's pensions.
Also, of course, chucking extra money around completely buggers up yer inflation aspirations.
It's a dilemma and I haven't really heard a proposed answer yet from anyone.  I personally think we all have to learn to be poorer, as simply put it's obviously going to be a poorer country here on out now we're on our own.... I don't think anyone could argue with that..
(ps. I hate to be that guy, but I suspect the unions literally don't care or even think about where the money's gonna actually come from  :(   ) >

It's amazing how all the arguments of "Giving you a pay rise will worsen inflation" never count if you're a CEO. Or an MP. Or anyone else making more than £50K a year.
And we pay for it by borrowing.  Borrowing has never been an issue. Debt in government has never been an issue so long as it is invested in the health of the nation, such that it causes economic growth and ultimately increases tax returns above the cost of the debt. We built this country on borrowing. The entire modern world was built on borrowing. The lie that borrowing and debt are negatives in need of "fixing" is just a tool used by the right to grab votes from the uneducated. >

I think Sunak and the torries need to be reminded that, unions and organized striking was the compromise we all agreed on, rather than the old way we was just dragging the factory bosses out of their houses in the night and beating them to death on the lawn. >

Sadly tories had beaten strikers down and changed strike laws after to feel confident. 70s brick layers strike where the strikers got jailed on false reports. 80s Miners strike while not as big as the 1920s general strike was still a major worker’s movement that got close to shaking up workers rights (it went beyond the miners concerns). 
Labour Party has lost most of its socialist working class MPs for more middle class career politicians since new labour.
It’s a hard fight the strikers are up against a lot and history of crushing strikes down >

This is essentially a general strike now, not a bunch of individuals.  The government can't cow the teachers, nurse, ambulance drivers, firefighters and rail workers.  They will lose. >

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 94%. (I'm a bot)


Sunak has so far attempted to cast himself as Mr Reasonable, stressing that his "Door is always open" to workers but warning that the right to strike must be "Balanced" with the provision of services.
More than half of people back strike action by nurses, according to new research by Public First, while for teachers the figure is 43 percent, postal workers 41 percent and rail workers 36 percent.
A former Cabinet minister said the most pressing issue in their constituency is the state of public services, and strike action signaled political danger for the government.


Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: strike^#1 Public^#2 government^#3 Sunak^#4 union^#5 >

In my experience when someone says 'door is open' the door is actually closed. >


But the plans were on display…”
“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
“That’s the display department.”
“With a flashlight.”
“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
“So had the stairs.”
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard. - hitchhikers guide >

"Beware the léopard" >

15 fucking years of austerity. People getting poorer year on year. Credit card debts rising and multiple warnings being made that this safety net has a limit.
The limit has been reached. 
You can't blow a foot off with Brexit, then blow the other foot off with Trussonomics, and not expect people to finally snap, either.
Don't worry though! The Tories are introducing laws to sack strikers and sue the unions! 
Strikes already ongoing have seen ministers openly admit they've now cost the country more than it would have been if they had just given the workers a pay rise. 
The evidence of the mismanagement and corruption is plain for all to see in the stats. We're on for a lost two decades at this point. My entire adult life has seen me trying desperately to climb the ladder and increase my wages, and every step taken sees two steps back as I continue to get poorer. 
Fuck the Tories. >

Fuck the voters. >

I remember when I was starting my apprenticeship, the entirety of the class besides me and the other two older students had voted tory. It is seriously baffling and saddening that they had actually been brainwashed by this rubbish when they're exactly the sort of people who benefit from voting for literally anyone apart from tories. >

Same exact thing happens in the American south. The poor conservatives vote party lines and then suffer the consequences of less public services. It simply doesn’t make sense. >

It's almost like these groups are heavily propagandized. >

They should fuckin do it.
Revolt you bastards! >

Americans should too >

Americans are already revolting >

By voting for Republicans? Yeah… good job Americans 😆 >

Oh yeah because the dems will surely lead the Marxist revolt… >

So because the dems aren't good enough, you decide to vote for the worst choice possible ? >

Who said anything about voting? >

My partner is a teacher & she's out with her colleagues on Wednesday, I work in the NHS & we were out a couple weeks back & my postman has been out 3 times since December.never in my whole adult life have I seen soo many institution's taking so much action at the same time
This government is in denial & the Russian money tied bastards need to be voted out. 
Fuck the Tories & fuck anyone in Britain who backs or votes for them >

With the way things are going comparisons to 70s Britain are extremely apt. Sunak will not concede anything while transit workers are likely to see a major part of their workforce retire over the next 2-3 years due to age. Because there is no program to rapidly train new operators, or retain them, or convince them to stop striking without police, this is going to spiral into something much bigger. Which means less trains, longer trains, service cutbacks to mainlines and station elimination. The public won't like it but won't have a choice. Downsizing of public operations for imported cars, sold at a premium from the EU, will hurt badly in the next election.
And if the police choose to strike or sickout, this could seriously destabilize the government as there isn't enough military to preform day-to-day policing. It'd be similar conditions that forced the US to legalize Unions a century ago. >

The police in the UK are expressly forbidden to strike.
But like any rule, you need enough people to enforce it.
If things get bad enough, good luck trying to do so when everyone either works to rule, calls in sick or just quits in large enough numbers. >


The police in the UK are expressly forbidden to strike. But like any rule, you need enough people to enforce it.

- But what if they strike?  
- They get arrested.  
- By whom?  
- By the poli... uh... >

The army >

A google search suggests there are 164,000 police in the UK and 79,000 in the army. >

How many howitzers does Scotland Yard have? >

I'm not sure how relevant howitzers are when it comes to arresting people. >

Not an effective arresting tool, but very effective in crowd control situations. >

Because shelling an angry populace will get them to calm down. >

Highly effective at getting them to calm down. Less effective at making them less angry. Realistically, this is what using the army instead of police would look like, so I don’t favor this course of action. >

They could just listen to the workers but I guess they want to take the hard way. >

You are making too much sense >

I'm not saying they shouldn't make more money, we just went through it in Canada with the teaching support staff. 
If all these public sectors want raises, where is that money coming from? Taxes. So not only inflation is fucked, now your taxes go up. It's a lose lose for everyone here unfortunately. >

How about closing tax loopholes and making big multinationals actually pay their UK tax?
Naaaaah just squeeze the workers some more /s >

That's the problem with millionaire/billionaire leaders, especially born rich one's, they are truly alien to a commoners life. >

Current Tories wrote a book stating British people were lazy and need to be forced to work harder and to do that is to strip away more benefits and safety nets and increase work hours. It’s like Thatcher’s stuff but more extreme.

A further factor undermining the British work ethic is the rise of welfare dependency. The postwar welfare state was designed as a safety net to help the poorest and most vulnerable. It has ballooned beyond all recognition, corroding the UK work ethic. -Britain unchained 

To note post war mines and construction sites saw hundreds of deaths and very low wages. Welfare claimed increases when they shut mines or blacklisted brickies for striking over pay and work conditions and have them no alternatives for work >

It's sick that "social welfare makes people lazy" and "whipping people harder means everything works" are so widely accepted as truths when every piece of actual facts points to the opposite.
There's tons and tons of real world examples of the impact of social safety and productivity and it's absolutely positive. Turns out if people can try to do what they want and aren't forced into shit jobs because they die without being constantly employed they are happier and more productive.
Also turns out that people being supported when they are at a low in their life overwhelmingly get back on their feet instead of leeching forever 
But the rich have successfully implanted the thought that it's better to have 999999 people in a group of a million suffer if it means that the one person left can't abuse the system for a minor benefit. >


"social welfare makes people lazy"

You'd think this concept would be completely alien to anybody who believes in capitalism and that people want to improve their own quality of life. >

He can take his anti-strike legislation and shove it. What’s he going to do - put half a million public servants in jail? Or worse yet, fire them?
I’ve worked in ambulance and hospitals in Australia, and I can guarantee you, if we lost an equivalent amount of staff overnight, you’d never be able to hire enough replacements to restart the service. You’d have to rebuild from the ground up. 
If this many staff strike, you’ve got no choice but to negotiate. You literally cannot provide government services without them. >


You literally cannot provide government services without them.

Careful now, you'll make the UK's conservative readers blow their loads. >

The fact that you can work full time and not have enough is criminal >

I’m a full time carer (currently on maternity leave). My salary per month doesn’t even cover the rent for a one bedroom flat, let alone bills etc. when I return to work I’ll be trying out a course in a completely different sector so I can get a better paid job. Then, maybe, I can afford a house by the time my kid is six. >

I've got a BSc in Biology and an MSc in Forensic Biology. Jobs in my sector (as a whole, I'd take anything tangential to Biology at this point) don't exist where I live. >

I’ve a Bsc in psychology, and I’m pretty much in the same boat :/ I’m hoping that by doing an online course in coding, something will open up for me, ideally where I can work from home. It’s a shame because I love the residents I work with, I just cannot support my family on this money. Once I get a better job I’ll still visit them. >

I took a remote position for a real-estate company that pays above average for my area (because they're based in another county, but still very modest earnings, not enough to move out, just enough to support my folks) but to be honest it's soul-crushing work. Not a day goes by I don't look for something else or try to come up with some business idea but I'm ill suited for this kind of thing, I'm a lab rat, I do field work.
Stay strong. >

Thank you, you too. >

Tories: maybe we should improve living standards so there’s less protests and strikes? Lol nah let’s create new rules to make striking and protesting even harder and illegal >

What's the point of a voting system that gives you absolute majority power on 43% of the vote if you can't use that power to force others to make you money???! >

Union leaders : "walk out to help out" >

Solidarity forever. >

We’ve lived on too little for too long 
Wages are piss poor and the current financial system relies on these poor wages to sustain its current output
Travel costs into London are ridiculous and with the added council tax rise and ulez rise it’ll get even worse
To top it all of, brexit and a party that seem to not actually stand for anything anymore besides pure unadulterated neo liberal growth 
Fuck rishi >

I stand with the unions! People have had enough and are not going to take Tory lies sitting down any longer. >

I'm in the UK. I'm not one of the striking workers.
I hope they grind the country to a fucking halt. They should walk out and stay out till the government buckles. >

Bout time for the elites to stop squeezing the poor. Before the elites get squeezed themseves. >

Squeezenomics where they crush the life out of everything to grab every drip of profit even if it means starving kids on food banks or chopping down every inch of the rainforest >

Rishi sunak honestly does not give one single fuck.
By that I mean he will see the news article about the working class in his country revolting and not even click on it. >

It's honestly a shame that British people were dumb enough to vote themselves into a depression to the point the more I hear stories and real life statistics, Britain seems to be rapidly sinking into the capitalist and consumerism suckhole we Americans are stuck in.
I applaud the British workers striking and trying to take a stand while Americans are unwilling to come together and demand change >

America is a big ponzi scheme
SS, Medicare, House prices, federal debts, pensions
You need continuous population growth to fund these liabilities >

SS, Medicare, Pensions etc are commonplace in almost every westernized country. Americas stuff SUCKS compared to almost all of Europe. And by and large, those governments are functioning a hell of a lot better than ours.
We have the population to fund those liabilities. The crooks we have running the government however choose to not tax the rich and have those rich corporations funding a culture war that has uneducated and poor Americans focusing on drag queen shows instead of the fact that Amazon pays no taxes >

Good ,nothing is trickling down , we need unions and strikes back. >

Can't wait for the further anti-strike legislation to come in.
So they really think it's going to help? I'm an RMT Rep and branch official. I'll come onto work but by fuck, I'll make sure every single train I have to attend is condemned and unable to run. Then they can see how successful their policy is.
The pieces of shite we have to maintain are a fucking joke and only run at all because of us going above and beyond without the proper tools, materials and replacement parts. The good grace is long gone. >

This is just the beginning. Today in the UK, tomorrow in every country on Earth. It’s well overdue and it is a sign of what we already know: major economic change is in order for all workers, everywhere. And it’s coming whether the oligarchs cry about it or not. >

Good, fuck him. Rooting for you all from the US >

Fuck Rishi and fuck the tories. >

And fuck the voters who keep them there. >

Like my parents. They are against all of the strike but I’m livid on how they feel about the nurses. Mum works in a hospital shop and sees nurses buy lunch for £10 a day so they just can’t be hurting for money /s. Dad says nurses have lived beyond their means with big houses and cars, and that’s why they are struggling now. 
Whilst pay is part of the strikes, they also want better working conditions. I’m glad I don’t live near my parents. I can teach my baby compassion for others, especially those who work such important jobs, without their influence. >

those shops are a an absolute joke and a complete rip off. I could run them, make more money than my consultants and leave clinical practise lol.
also re your parents, I hate this stance. Its a bit like the "young people should stop buying avocados then". >

I’ve seen the prices in those shops. Ick. And I tried to explain to my parents maybe the nurses don’t have the time nor energy to do shopping after a 12+ hour shift. 
I also hate this stance but nothing I say could change their minds. >

They won't change their mind until they actually care about someone personally affected. >

Yeah. I wonder what they would think if I had completed my teacher training course and was now working as a teacher. >

Uk citizens in general should all strike in solidarity of getting this scum bag, corruption fuelled party out of government. >

Remember the French revolution? Yeah. >

Burn it to the ground. >

Solidarity! ✊ >

You’re asking a billionaire to care about the lives of the working class? >


long-promised legislation to enforce minimum service standards

Soooo much better than enforcing existing tax law and closing loopholes for the rich >

Why does the country keep electing Tory governments? If 12 years of ruinous economic policies isn't enough, it makes you wonder what it will take for voters to work together to make real change. >

This is all Labour electorates fault in having Jeremy Corbyn as leader. He was not a big supporter for Remaining in the EU and so when he headed the party in the last general election post-Brexit he was unable to articulate a vision for how things would be different in a post-Brexit world. That and he wasnt able to effectively beat back against the character hit job he received in the press >

Stop voting tory! Just stop! >

Fuck the tories >

I’ve been a member of a union for years, and a union rep and I wouldn’t by any measure say they are perfect but damn it’s good to have someone in your side when you are exploited by those in power. And let’s face it despite what they sometime say their job isn’t to do what’s best for the country but for their members. But if maybe if we ever had really been all in it ‘together’ rather than this inflation come at the end of over a decade of falling wages in real terms for the less well off , and in every crisis the richest had not just got richer then maybe there wouldn’t be such a push for strikes from some groups that almost never strike. 
All typified for me by having had ( briefly) a chancellor of the exchequer who uses a trust in an off shore tax haven ( basically belonging to the U.K.) pretending that his money belongs to poorer family members while threatening reporters with libel for telling the truth and still not feeling like anyone deserves an apology or explanation for his behaviour, I mean are we really surprised that these people might not exactly have the right motivation to sort out the tax system , the health care system, education, or transport when they live entirely separate lives? >

I have strike and protest envy.  Europeans do this so much better than we do, which is why they have universal health care, paid family leave, paid vacations, and retirement ages of 62. >

This isnt just a UK issue. This is a GLOBAL issue.
The cost of living crisis is global and its not being tackled because the rich (On both left and right) BENEFIT from it.
Price of homes going up? Good for landlords who now have more renters!
Price of living going up? Justification for you to put prices up! 
Economy doing badly? Justifaction for wage stagnation!
Ive seen some ridiculous targets like "expenses must fall by 20% year on year for 10 years" in certain fields. >

And the fear of losing jobs stops anyone from actually doing ANYTHING about it.
I hate this timeline :( >

I wasn't following UK politics for a while now... But I'm guessing this new dude isn't exactly great PM ?  I mean who would have though putting millionaire businessman in power. >

No, he's not great. But to be fair to him he's taken on an impossible job. If we look at his predecessors, one shat the bed, the next one smeared in around trying to clear it up, the one after that set the bed on fire and told everyone to look in the other direction (whilst sacking anyone who didn't), and the one after that decided that the best course of action was to shit the bed again. >


But to be fair to him he's taken on an impossible job.

To be fair, how about no? Nobody made him run for PM, he just saw an opportunity to further enrich himself and his friends and he took it, just like a typical tory wankstain. Actually running the country is just a side job  to these people. >

What actions has Sunak taken to enrich his friends? >

UK failed to understand that it benefits greatly from being part of something bigger like EU than the other way around. The money sent out to other parts of EU would never have been created without talent flocking in from other weaker states. An overpopulated island with little resources is going nowhere. >

Sadly this batch of tories saw eu giving people more rights and safety as ‘encouraging laziness and bad work ethics’. When people strike for more pay and better work conditions all the tories think is ‘these lazy workers want more for less’. Even if nurses are working long hours for little pay they still want them working more hours and mumbling something about free market when pay gets mentioned >


these lazy workers want more for less’.

Which is precisely what employers have been getting for the last few years. In the case of public servants, more like a decade. >

Fuck that non seat belt wearing piece of shit! >

We in the UK just need to accept that we've downgraded ourselves to "emerging economy" status as a result of Brexit. That means getting used to failing infrastructure, strained public services, expanding poverty and corrupt ruling class.
As that TV mascot used to say, "Seeeeeemple!" >


That means getting used to failing infrastructure, strained public services, expanding poverty and corrupt ruling class.

Whilst I agree that we shot ourselves in the foot with Brexit, this was happening well before 2016. >

But Brexit happened because of this. Shoot yourself in the foot is the national pastime of British politics >

My point was more that austerity has been a British policy since at least 2010. We're rapidly in decline at this point. >

The foundational issues started around the 1980's, when it became government policy to never build as many houses as were needed, to try to drive up the price year on year, and it never stopped being government policy even as the parties in government changed.
It kept a significant chunk of the population sitting on a major asset with a reliably increasing value without requiring any kind of investment or economic activity.
Now, the vast majority of the economic problems now derive from that, and even now no party has identified this. >

It’s ok. He’ll just make introductions for everyone to banks! >

YOU NEED A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH THE EU……..REMEMBER >

BUTSOMETHING SOMETHING BREXIT! >

People are suffering energy & food poverty in Britain. Many of them have never had this problem before. I predict trouble in the near future. Since Brexit our rights have slowly but surely been eroded. It seems they were privilege’s & not rights. 
It’s not often that the British public revolt but I think Sunak is going to be facing riots before long. >

When the economy is tight because of the actions of the rich, it's always the poor that are expected to deal with the consequences. >

What would we do if the people on minimum wage decided to strike?? As if they could. U know the ones who fill our supermarket shelves, sweep our streets, work in the service sector,  people who work really hard in our so called care industry. Asking for a living wage shouldn't be demanded with threats, and it's a really sad state of affairs that it is. No job is more important than another; yes there's professions more at the sharp end of life, but none of us could function without everyone working together. Big or little, everyone is important and worthwhile. >

Until poor people start killing some rich people in anger, absolutely nothing is gonna change in this world. >

As an observer from another country, I've found James O'Brien on LBC to have some unbelievably refreshing takes on the current state of Britain for someone in the media. I thought the Tories had basically captured that entire industry. >

To think, the Tories thought this tone deaf billionaire was the best their party could put forth for the premiership...the sad thing is, they're probably right. The next general election can't come quickly enough. >

what does it matter, as long as the tories are in power, shit gets shittier. >

Can we do that here in Canada too, I'm so fucking done. >

Gee, its almost like forcing your people into ever worsening economic and legal conditions is making them angry. What's that I hear? You pay them shit wages? What's that I hear? You make anti-democratic laws severely restricting their right to protest and petition their government for a redress of grievances? They can be arrested for doing so? What else do I hear? Your disastrous decision to pull away from economic union with your neighboring countries in the quest for some stupid and ludicrous attempt at regaining former global dominance failed and is seriously hurting your nation? What? You're surprised they are beginning to stage mass uprisings? >

They should have walked out long ago. >

What happened 12 years ago? >

He’s just waiting for the new anti-union legislation to kick in, once that happens it’s smooth sailing because everyone will just suck it up (The British way unfortunately) >

Why don't they just make it illegal to go on strike like the politicians in Canada do every time this happens? >

Ungrateful proles!
The Tories are definitely in the right, and the train drivers and transport workers, teachers, university and college union members, civil servants, London bus drivers, nurses, physiotherapists, emergency care workers, NHS call handlers and paramedics are all just militants! >

I wish then the best of lick and that their efforts pay off.
Into a better tomorrow on the strength of your resolve. >

Don't worry guys I hear he's working hard on the 10th sanction package for Russia. >

Teachers are not being replaced by ChatGPT, what delusional fantasy are you living in? >

We need this in the us >

I doubt Sunak has the power to fix all these problems in the time that’s needed.  Seems like it’s too little, too late from the Tories in general >

That’s gonna have an impact. >

only thing these people care about is not having a riot show up at their door >

Wish he'd walk out and take the Tory party with him. >

Out of curiosity what’s the approval rating for the conservatives? >

US billionaires are going to start sweating when this works