Heading towards a general strike?

I support the barristers' strike. Legal Aid rates are shockingly low.

I don't support the dock workers' strike. Unite refuses to put the offered increase to its members - whilst members of the port staff union have accepted the same offer.

Barristers have voted to go on an indefinite, uninterrupted strike in England and Wales from next month.

The walkout by members of the Criminal Bar Association will begin on 5 September.

Breaking news. Criminal barristers in England and Wales vote to go on all-out strike. BBC.

If the workers at Felixtowe port strike continues it will cause a lot of disruption because container ships rely on being loaded and unloaded on schedule.
No comparison with the 1930s although there will be a lot of strikes this winter, an unpopular PM will not help.

The Great Depression of the 1930s bore a lot of similarities to what we are experiencing today. It was only WW2 that diverted a massive uprising of the working class then.

Indeed I will Maizie, though I must say that during many years of dealing with the EA and it’s predecessors in my professional life I found their staff pretty useless.

Polio can be waterborne and so discovering it in sewage, especially in the UK where at the moment sewage is regularly discharged into our waterways with no consequence for the privatised water companies is a huge concern. Yes we can blame the government for this- they should have taken much stricter measures and ensured the regulations were adhered to, not just overriding the regulations for the sake of profits.

A GP has stated on twitter that his first question to anyone presenting with d&v, urine infection, eye infection, ear infection is to ask if they have been swimming in the sea or waterways. E.coli is rife and present in rivers at hundreds of times over EU maximum levels. Another Brexit bonus eh?

Germanshepherdsmum

I agree that the discharge of untreated sewage into the sea or inland waterways is unacceptable.

Aaaah.

But will you agree that the government has to take some of the blame because of poor regulation and cuts to the Environment Agency?

I agree that the discharge of untreated sewage into the sea or inland waterways is unacceptable.

Germanshepherdsmum

Sorry to disagree but the presence of polio in the sewage is indicative of its presence amongst the population.

I agree with you about that, but my point is that it should get no further than the sewage treatment plant, not be allowed to be discharged into rivers and seas where it could endanger the wider population. (Is it actually waterborne?)

The Public Health authorities are acting. I understand they're offering polio vaccination, and they must surely be trying to trace the source of the contamination. But how can they effectively contain it if it's allowed to run riot in our waters?

Sorry to disagree but the presence of polio in the sewage is indicative of its presence amongst the population.

Germanshepherdsmum

I don’t think we can blame the government for the re-emergence of traces of polio in sewage. The thinking is that it has been introduced from abroad, maybe by people who have had ‘live’ vaccines which we don’t do here. At least it’s been detected and a vaccination programme is underway in the affected areas.

I don't think anyone would be overly concerned about the emergence of traces of polio in sewage if raw sewage wasn't being prolifically discharged into our seas and rivers. For which, I think, we can blame the government for not doing anything to stop the water companies doing it.

Not only have they actually loosened the regulations but, the Environment Agency has suffered swingeing cuts over the past 12 years and don't have the staff to investigate all breaches or the money to prosecute offenders. This is small state in action...

I don’t think we can blame the government for the re-emergence of traces of polio in sewage. The thinking is that it has been introduced from abroad, maybe by people who have had ‘live’ vaccines which we don’t do here. At least it’s been detected and a vaccination programme is underway in the affected areas.

I do see, despite the best efforts of our mainly right wing press, that the general public are not angry at strikers, maybe 'critical mass' has been reached as you would have to be living a very sheltered life indeed not to know someone who is unhappy with their employment pay and conditions, is worrying about their energy bills, is concerned (should be angry) about the disgusting state of our water industry. E-coli in the waterways, polio back as a spectre, a threat to health, both physical and mental worse than that posed by covid19. Just what is going right at the moment?

JaneJudge

I don't know why Shinamae received so many negative comments, it was clear what she meant. I also do not think it is a massive stretch of the imagination to think carers are more committed to the people they care for than say me in my job which is low paid but no one is going to become ill or die if I strike. How little carers and support workers get paid is a travesty and the fact it is seen as low skilled is almost as bad

Thank you Jane ?

Shinamae I can see why someone in your type of job would find it impossible to go on strike. We've visited a care home recently and seen the care and understanding of the staff who look after a relative of ours. If that is the normal rate of pay for such an important job, it's appalling.

Perhaps our government needs to look at systems of care in other countries eg Germany.

Reaching critical mass
Are we heading for an eruption?

I think, as nation, we're fairly laid back, stoical and easygoing:
Keep calm and carry on, have a cup of tea.

However, every so often there comes a point where enough is enough.

RichmondPark1

Ah got it, thank you.

Like the weight on one side increasing just enough to tip a seesaw. (At least that's how my mind sees it!)

We must nearly be there surely?

That's how I see it too, but the first definition I found was a bit

The smallest mass of a fissionable material that will sustain a nuclear chain reaction at a constant level.

JaneJudge

I don't know why Shinamae received so many negative comments, it was clear what she meant. I also do not think it is a massive stretch of the imagination to think carers are more committed to the people they care for than say me in my job which is low paid but no one is going to become ill or die if I strike. How little carers and support workers get paid is a travesty and the fact it is seen as low skilled is almost as bad

It's a dilemma, though, isn't it JJ? Carers aren't the only people caught by it, hospital workers and school staff are a couple more.

But unionising a workforce gives it negotiating power. They don't actually have to go on strike, but the threat of striking can be enough to positively influence negotiations if an employer knows that a strike will have a very serious effect on their business. It's an ultimate weapon, not a first strike (sorry) one.

The 'winter of discontent', which is the nearest scenario to the current one that I can think of, had nothing like so many disaffected sectors. It also happened under governments which did seem to care ...

I think Callaghan was a well-meaning, decent man but rather hapless and not strong enough for the job of PM. He put his head in the sand about the approaching crisis.

Now, I feel as if the country and most of its population is being neglected.
"Nero fiddles while Rome burns".

Ah got it, thank you.

Like the weight on one side increasing just enough to tip a seesaw. (At least that's how my mind sees it!)

We must nearly be there surely?

Can you please tell us more about 'critical mass' MaizieD?

It's a term from physics, Mass is what we lay people call 'weight'.

A dictionary definition:

a size, number, or amount large enough to produce a particular result

Once critical mass is reached there is an inevitable, probably predictable, reaction. Before that things could go either way.

(I think in physics it's a bit more specific than that but I'm talking about common usage.)

I don't know why Shinamae received so many negative comments, it was clear what she meant. I also do not think it is a massive stretch of the imagination to think carers are more committed to the people they care for than say me in my job which is low paid but no one is going to become ill or die if I strike. How little carers and support workers get paid is a travesty and the fact it is seen as low skilled is almost as bad

A triple lock pension increase has been promised for April 23. The increase will be based on the Consumer Price Index in September 22. As the CPI is currently running at around 10% and predicted to rise, will state pensions increase accordingly?

I just can't see them keeping the promise as they will call it 'inflationary' and it will set a precedent that will follow on to public sector pay. If the increase doesn't match the CPI then millions of pensioners will fall further behind inflation at a time when they are struggling to pay ever increasing energy and food bills.

This is another potential disaffected sector.

Can you please tell us more about 'critical mass' MaizieD?