No alternative?
Approx 10,000 public sector workers in eastern Scotland went on strike today, and over 1 million in the UK as a whole, according to the BBC. They are protesting against proposed changes to their pension scheme, which would mean they may not be able to retire on a full pension at 60, like many other workers in the public sector.
Although I don't pretend to know much about pensions in general, and especially this particular issue, I support their right to protest against what they see as unfair treatment, however I wish they had managed to find an alternative to going out on strike. The same article on the BBC website has a long list of the kinds of people who went on strike, including street sweepers, refuse collectors, home care workers, bus and train drivers, and school cooks, cleaners and caretakers. That's a lot of people. People who do a lot of important work.
My own experience of the strike was limited to a long, frustrating journey to work this morning, and a long, soggy walk home in the rain this evening. I was half an hour late for work (despite leaving early - grrr!) and arrived home after a 45 minute walk (on probably the rainest, most miserable day of the year so far), soaked through from the neck down.
As usual with these things, the people who suffer the most are the ones who are just trying to get to work and earn a living. I can't see myself ever going on strike (although I may feel like it sometimes), but if I did I'd be safe in the knowledge that no-one is going to have their day disrupted by me not being at my desk, ready to give crappy IT advice ('Have you tried switching it off then back on again?').
Although I don't pretend to know much about pensions in general, and especially this particular issue, I support their right to protest against what they see as unfair treatment, however I wish they had managed to find an alternative to going out on strike. The same article on the BBC website has a long list of the kinds of people who went on strike, including street sweepers, refuse collectors, home care workers, bus and train drivers, and school cooks, cleaners and caretakers. That's a lot of people. People who do a lot of important work.
My own experience of the strike was limited to a long, frustrating journey to work this morning, and a long, soggy walk home in the rain this evening. I was half an hour late for work (despite leaving early - grrr!) and arrived home after a 45 minute walk (on probably the rainest, most miserable day of the year so far), soaked through from the neck down.
As usual with these things, the people who suffer the most are the ones who are just trying to get to work and earn a living. I can't see myself ever going on strike (although I may feel like it sometimes), but if I did I'd be safe in the knowledge that no-one is going to have their day disrupted by me not being at my desk, ready to give crappy IT advice ('Have you tried switching it off then back on again?').
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on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 9:21 pm.
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