Heading towards a general strike?

I keep hearing (and reading) that we (the UK) are on the edge of the abyss. What do people see as being at the bottom of it?

Really interesting blog by Richard Murphy here on company dividends, productivity and profits. It's a long read, but I think it contributes to supporting the case for workers demanding higher wages.

We are continually being told by Tory politicians and the Bank of England that businesses must not give employees pay rises that might match inflation because this would create an inflationary spiral. But what about dividends? Aren’t they the real cause of the problem?

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2022/08/20/companies-are-paying-inflation-busting-dividends-at-cost-to-the-rest-of-the-economy-including-their-employees/

It was posted as a twitter thread, which I've looked at and can't find anyone responding with a serious critique of the research and its conclusions.

Removal of the populations rights to strike, receive free healthcare and education and their ability to afford to work but not live in poverty would be a good start Doodledog

Care workers are voting with their feet there are 160,000 vacancies. Very similar vacancies throughout the health service, we are very close to breaking point.
Hospitality has major shortages too, this is not going to end well.

One of these possible Tory PMs may be worse than the other but I have no doubt that whichever one wins will continue to inflict damage on our country.

Surely at some point even the readers of the Daily Mail might say "that's enough damage-we need a better government".

varian

One of these possible Tory PMs may be worse than the other but I have no doubt that whichever one wins will continue to inflict damage on our country.

Surely at some point even the readers of the Daily Mail might say "that's enough damage-we need a better government".

I’m sure you’re right, but it’s still very important to have the one as PM who will inflict the least damage, two years is a long time.

Katie59

Care workers are voting with their feet there are 160,000 vacancies. Very similar vacancies throughout the health service, we are very close to breaking point.
Hospitality has major shortages too, this is not going to end well.

And foreign workers will be brought in to fill those vacancies

We had perfectly good foreign workers that did those jobs. The trouble is they were ‘foreign’ and were taking jobs that U.K. workers wanted to do. Or thought they did….

Casdon

Removal of the populations rights to strike, receive free healthcare and education and their ability to afford to work but not live in poverty would be a good start Doodledog

I see what you mean, (and believe that if the Tories could do those things they would), but I was thinking in terms of what people think might happen if the population is pushed far enough. Civil war? Riots? Marshal law?

I doubt it. The British aren't really into mass civil disobedience/general strikes, we rarely have been, and never in the last 90+ years.

There will be protests, there will be different strikes, at different times, but other than that, we'll do what we've always done in times of recession - just get on with life, the best way we can.

Meanwhile, Felixstowe Port, where half of all our imports land, are due to hold an 8 day strike.

The workers were offered a 7% pay rise, but have rejected it.

This will impact on everyone, as the supply chain will be badly affected.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-62608112

varian

I sometimes think that we may be heading for something more alarming than a general strike -this country has lost its way. Nothing in this country works as it should.

We have had enough of a thoroughly corrupt and incompetent Tory government and it really doesn't matter which corrupt and incompetent Tory becomes the next PM.

We need total rethink if the UK is to survive as a country -top to bottom constitutional reform, starting with scrapping our undemocratic FPTP voting system.

... spot on. Absolutely spot on.

I doubt it. The British aren't really into mass civil disobedience/general strikes, we rarely have been, and never in the last 90+ years.

I don't think that we have ever been in such an extreme position before with so many different sectors very unhappy with the way the country is being run (or, more accurately, not run). Industrial unrest in multiple sectors is in the news but we also have businesses deeply worried about their survival, many of them already badly affected by Brexit but now with the threat of massive, unsustainable, energy bills.

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 have mentioned 'critical mass' before in connection with the current unrest. Do people understand what it means?

MazieD

I have mentioned 'critical mass' before in connection with the current unrest. Do people understand what it means?

Very much so. And I believe we are nearing, or already at, that point.

Your observation about the previous so-called "winter of discontent" is accurate, it has very little in common with what is happening now.

Like Caesar, we have passed the Rubicon.

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?

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

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.)

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?

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".

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 ?

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?

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.