What goes around comes around

A joke in very poor taste, then, if it was a joke MaggsMcG.

Saddened and very disappointed at many of these posts. There is only one reason for these strikes and that lies at the feet of the TORY voters who have supported the running down of all public services over the last decade. Just remember those public service workers who worked on the front line through COVID. Carry on striking!

It was a joke (I think) where's everyone's sense of humour.

Although I do sometimes wonder where all the money is going to come from to pay for all these wage increases that everyone is striking for. I understand the striking to try and save their jobs and conditions but for a high percentage of wages can just make matters overall worse, surely?

The difference then is that you were highly respected and treated well, and there were enough nurses and doctors to go round. You had time to see patients looked after properly. You had time to comfort relatives and properly inform them. You were not under such levels of stress.

chatted about this for a long time iwht retired doctor sister and husband both now retired consultants. They had to time talk to nurses , who often knew more than them when they were newbies. They had time to make best decisions, tests could be done, operations happened in a timely manner.
Job satisfaction was a great deal higher

*BiL used to vote Conservative.

Now, he totally backs the strikes.*

I had a vocation, since age of 7. I qualified as a Nurse, SEN, so definitely not well paid as Staff Nurse, yet through the turmoil of price rises, other peoples strike action, mortgages at 11%, if not more, a single mother, when strike action under Blair was tried, I voted no , and so did my colleagues. You go into the medical professions with your eyes open, you know what the pay and conditions are , 6 weeks plus 10 days holiday,paid, full pay sick leave. I wish as a new SEN my pay had been 35,000, plus enhanced hours for weekends and night duty.

Well said that made laugh

I know of an experienced teacher, who because of the stress associated with the job, left, to work in one of the discount supermarkets.

Amalegra yes, its heavy duty, but it's not only a heavily politicised topic, but intensely personal for many of those writing.

It should have been in "politics" really: the O/P is far more than an "observation."

nipsmum

Maybe all these highly trained people are organised and have thought well ahead and kept their passports up to date.

You mean when they crawl home exhausted after long shifts ?

Our GP practice nurse didn’t go on strike. She left and went to work in Tesco where she earned more.
If our public services don’t get more support the delayed and cancelled treatments will be worse than temporary strikes
And it sticks in the craw when the government gives tax breaks for pension contributions to the richest in our country and then turn round and say they cannot afford to give the most important people in our society decent wages.

I didn't even know the passport office was going on strike but I bet all the workers renew their own passports beforehand.

I do agree with all the comments about how the posts on here lately do seem to engender an awful lot of unpleasant responses.

Not quite sure Lizbethann of the relevance of your teacher friends travels to this thread.
Happy to join in however. My teacher son in law and my working daughter will be taking their children camping in the New Forest this summer. Relevant- you decide.

GN is getting so politicised these days, isn’t it? What starts out as an observation becomes a diatribe! Perhaps we are all starting to notice the managed decline of this country which has been coming to a head now for many years-and not just the years of Tory government either. Even so I think I’ll stick to the more lighthearted topics here now! I don’t always feel like a political lecture or debate-there’s enough of those on TV and in the newspapers. And tbh, they don’t change things much!

Isn't it interesting how many of the people who have been on strike (and I support them) are those who kept working through the pandemic? Teachers, NHS staff, transport workers, postal workers, civil servants...

My daughter who is a community mental health nurse would totally agree with your post of 22.21 BlueBelle

Maybe all these highly trained people are organised and have thought well ahead and kept their passports up to date.

GN at its worst. Sad, very unpleasant.

wow, what a nasty thread. The comments are disturbing.

Unpleasant post - well said some of you. Karma is a myth. Look around!

What a very weird mindset you have poster.. people strike as a last resort to improve conditions and pay...I watched in distress as provisions for clients in MH were pared to the absolute minimum. One client discharged before she was well, despite my complaints, as her CPN, to the hospital, killed herself by jumping off her 5 storey building. It's hard to live with that stress and it's happening all the time in many different ways to all the people striking.. Have some compassion..
IMO the only Karma involved is to do with the government and it's refusal to put money where it is needed

Goodbyetoallthat

What about university staff? You have missed us off the list (or do we fall in the “etc” category) are we still allowed to go on holiday?

You are, Goodbyetoallthat, except of course you are also expected to do enough research all summer placed in enough learned journals so your uni actually gets funding for carrying on....

Why is the assumption that people need to apply for a passport every time they go abroad?

I have always renewed mine as it expires and then it's valid for 10 years. (I would have done this even if I hadn't been legally bound to by dint of living abroad in a country where you have to carry ID at all times.)

My daughter is a secondary school teacher, she is a leader but teaches all day, any free periods to do planning and management work are spent covering lessons. Several days a week she has not a single break, including lunch as she goes from classroom to duties to detentions. She is always Ill and rarely takes a sick day as she knows the impact on the rest of the teachers. She didn’t strike but I looked after her children willingly whilst the teachers at their school did strike. No one listens until it’s too late!

What about university staff? You have missed us off the list (or do we fall in the “etc” category) are we still allowed to go on holiday?

Ive been in a job where we were constantly told to "do more with less". Rather than rushing I told my staff to go more slowly and more carefully so as not to be pushed into mistakes. We stuck strictly to break, opening and closeing times. Parts of the job were gradually and quietly let go or piled up. The phone was taken off the hook at busy periods. People waited and queued for longer. If customers complained I advised them to write to the local authority.