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It was unsurprising that Victoria Derbyshire's BBC Radio FiveLive phone-in yesterday morning comprised two discrete sets of opinions on the public sector strike action.On the one hand, there were the comrades, many phoning from the picket lines, proposing their reasons why they felt strike action was appropriate.
On the other, the criticisms of the strike action by those working in the private sector, whose arguments included most or all of the following points:
1) "So what if public sector workers have had below inflation pay rises? I/my wife/husband/partner/life mate/fuck-buddy work in the private sector, and haven't had a pay rise in x years!"
2) "Public sector workers want an unreasonable pay rise in the circumstances. It is dangerously irresponsible for them to make these demands at this time. After all, it's my taxes that pay their wages!"
3) "More whinging from the feather-bedded public sector! Yet they have protected pensions and more time off than I get in the private sector!"
4) "They choose to work in the public sector. If they don't like it, they should bloody well work elsewhere!"
Let's address these points one-by-one:
1) Some questions for the attackers - Why are you so against workers trying to better their lot? Why are you seemingly against following their example and trying to better your lot by, er, unionising and acting collectively?
2) The old chestnut of 'my taxes pay their wages' - Last I checked, public sector workers were taxpayers too and, like every employee in practically every sector, there is an element of employees self-funding their positions.
For example, if I work at Sainsburys, and I also shop there, I am, in part, funding my own employment.
Further, that argument also assumes that public sector workers do not spend any money in the private sector. To continue the above example, would we ever hear public sector workers attacking actioning shop workers by moaning, "My purchases of microwave Spag Bol, bog roll and cat litter pay your wages..."? Equally true, but an equally nonsensical argument.
3) I cannot digest how some people believe public sector workers are 'feather-bedded', when the average public sector salary is, according to one union official, £16,000 per annum, some £8,000 less than the overall 'average wage'. Further, to repeat myself, why are private sector workers unwilling or unable to fight for their own protected occupational pensions and better conditions?
4) Yes, some public sector employees choose to work in their chosen professions, and in full knowledge that they will never make mega-salaries. Why do they do this? Perhaps because, in the case of carers and social workers, they want to make a positive difference that cannot be measured in pounds and pence. Many others may not choose to work in that sector, but do so anyway, for whatever reason.
What is inescapable is that public sector workers perform the bedrock roles of our society. Without them, society doesn't function, which is why industrial action has such a profound impact. However, because most of these jobs are low status, they are easily dismissed by others as somehow of less importance.
Two of the greatest 'successes' of the Thatcher and Blair eras were, firstly, the generation of antipathy between public and private sector workers when it comes to industrial action and, secondly, the creation of a mindset amongst private sector middle earners (with some exceptions) that they should be happy with their lot and never demand any more.
It never fails to astonish me how little some workers will accept before they become fearful of losing it through demanding a fairer share. What is most disappointing is that private sector workers critical of public sector industrial action seem to desire the lowering of standards and working conditions.
1 comments:
Great post. And what we are now hearing from corporate and government officials is fear of the dreaded "wage-price spiral." It's a classic way to blame the victims of inflation (public and private sector workers) for the very inflation they are trying to address.
It's an interesting but unsurprising situation. At a time when corporate CEOs, financial managers and speculators have sent the global economy reeling out of control - during which time governments sat back complacent or actively cheered on the process - workers seeking a better shake are the first blamed. Where were the regulators when Equitable Life executives falsified their earnings to justify huge bonuses and pay rises that dwarf what the public sector strikers are fighting for? There were no solemn warnings by government officials of a wage-price spiral when these and other robber barons cheated and lied their way into this current financial crisis, even though billions of tax payer funds will be used to remedy their actions. When were CEOs told to "maintain discipline" and accept lower pay for the good of the economy as Alistair Darling recently urged public workers to do? But will these corporate criminals be held to account? Don't hold your breath on it.
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