>The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said the efforts of millions of key workers got the UK through the worst of the Covid pandemic, but now those same workers were facing another year of “pay misery” at the hands of the government – while the cost of living continues to soar.
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>“Many are now at breaking point because of a toxic mix of low pay, unsustainable workloads and a serious lack of recognition,” said its outgoing general secretary, Frances O’Grady.
Well… can you blame them?
Our system has shafted them to oblivion.
I’m a teacher who has only ever known below inflation pay raises (been teaching since 09). I currently technically work one day a week for free compared to a teachers salary before austerity. It will soon become one week in every four for free if the government hits teachers with the 5% pay increase this time around. I have one child who my wife (also a teacher) looks after 2 days a week because nursary fees are too expensive for us, taking her out of the school system and stopping her progressing in her career. We also have the looming prospect of increased mortgage rates come February as well as increased energy prices. We are both currently looking for alternative careers as we can’t afford to to teach anymore (as crazy as that sounds). Effectively we have aged out, were pay is no longer keeping up with our lifestyle of owning a home and having a child.. (I’m 36). I will be striking at the earliest opportunity, but unfortunately I think its too late for alot of us. I can’t see the government sorting anything meaningful out in time.
Married to someone in the emergency services and for what he does, he is nowhere near paid enough. I earn more than him and it’s a joke when you consider the risk and hours that he deals with compared to me in my cushy work from home job.
Sadly he is considering moving to a role in the private sector which will pay more for less stress but he is gutted about it because he went into it all wanting to do some good in the world.
Moving closer to failed state stage of populism- where’s all the benefits we were promised?
Our staff with specialist knowledge are being headhunted. I don’t expect the public sector to be identical in wage as we get other benefits but the gap is getting massive now.
We had years of “it’s not the right time, take your 1% and shut up” and now there’s another “not the right time” to ask for pay.
Well when is the right time?
If they’re all considering quitting, there will be plenty who will choose to have the “perks” of these roles, which still are viewed as “good” by the majority, eg the pensions etc.
If they quit, then that’s 2m jobs they’ll need to find presumably as an alternative. And I cannot see them all walking into better paid roles with as good pensions etc. Otherwise if it was that simple, they’d have all done so.
Public sector workers always complain. Always have. Always will.
We are haemorrhaging staff and cannot recruit permanent replacements, only locums who rarely last a year. NHS pay just does not go far in Dorset these days. The right would complain that they are all immigrants (non-EU at that), however Brits simply do not want to do the job because of bad the pay is compared to the private sector. Public sector pay is just too poor to encourage people to work for it anymore.
They are getting higher rates of pay to compensate and how they use this, private pensions or not is their choice.
When I came into teaching we were told of the droves leaving. 3 decades later, its no different to then.
Public sector worker for the past 8 years… If it wasn’t for my team and the fact that I can still save a decent amount of money every month… I’d leave this joint so fast.
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>The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said the efforts of millions of key workers got the UK through the worst of the Covid pandemic, but now those same workers were facing another year of “pay misery” at the hands of the government – while the cost of living continues to soar.
>
>“Many are now at breaking point because of a toxic mix of low pay, unsustainable workloads and a serious lack of recognition,” said its outgoing general secretary, Frances O’Grady.
Well… can you blame them?
Our system has shafted them to oblivion.
I’m a teacher who has only ever known below inflation pay raises (been teaching since 09). I currently technically work one day a week for free compared to a teachers salary before austerity. It will soon become one week in every four for free if the government hits teachers with the 5% pay increase this time around. I have one child who my wife (also a teacher) looks after 2 days a week because nursary fees are too expensive for us, taking her out of the school system and stopping her progressing in her career. We also have the looming prospect of increased mortgage rates come February as well as increased energy prices. We are both currently looking for alternative careers as we can’t afford to to teach anymore (as crazy as that sounds). Effectively we have aged out, were pay is no longer keeping up with our lifestyle of owning a home and having a child.. (I’m 36). I will be striking at the earliest opportunity, but unfortunately I think its too late for alot of us. I can’t see the government sorting anything meaningful out in time.
Married to someone in the emergency services and for what he does, he is nowhere near paid enough. I earn more than him and it’s a joke when you consider the risk and hours that he deals with compared to me in my cushy work from home job.
Sadly he is considering moving to a role in the private sector which will pay more for less stress but he is gutted about it because he went into it all wanting to do some good in the world.
Moving closer to failed state stage of populism- where’s all the benefits we were promised?
Our staff with specialist knowledge are being headhunted. I don’t expect the public sector to be identical in wage as we get other benefits but the gap is getting massive now.
We had years of “it’s not the right time, take your 1% and shut up” and now there’s another “not the right time” to ask for pay.
Well when is the right time?
If they’re all considering quitting, there will be plenty who will choose to have the “perks” of these roles, which still are viewed as “good” by the majority, eg the pensions etc.
If they quit, then that’s 2m jobs they’ll need to find presumably as an alternative. And I cannot see them all walking into better paid roles with as good pensions etc. Otherwise if it was that simple, they’d have all done so.
Public sector workers always complain. Always have. Always will.
We are haemorrhaging staff and cannot recruit permanent replacements, only locums who rarely last a year. NHS pay just does not go far in Dorset these days. The right would complain that they are all immigrants (non-EU at that), however Brits simply do not want to do the job because of bad the pay is compared to the private sector. Public sector pay is just too poor to encourage people to work for it anymore.
They are getting higher rates of pay to compensate and how they use this, private pensions or not is their choice.
When I came into teaching we were told of the droves leaving. 3 decades later, its no different to then.
Public sector worker for the past 8 years… If it wasn’t for my team and the fact that I can still save a decent amount of money every month… I’d leave this joint so fast.