Putting aside the rights and 'wrongs' of the dispute....

..however justified, how will passport office workers who, as Mark Serwotka has stated are already using food banks and having to claim benefits (that ironically they administer themselves) manage?
Furthermore, 5 weeks is 'nigh on' 10% of their salary wiped out (albeit since their tax etc is lower the 'net' loss is lower). They are also delaying the, albeit paltry, 2% rises on offer, which is unlikely to be backdated if they are on strike. It will take a year for them to 'break even' if the Govt ultimately offer to 10-12% (which IMO wont happen. Will union subs/ strike pay fund be sufficient to cover 5 weeks wages for the entire PO staff?

Also, the thought of returning to a huge backlog of applications after 5 weeks since they are striking at the busiest time of their year would also fill me with dread (it was bad enough when you get back from 2 weeks holiday and playing catch up.)
Like I said, I am not posting about the rights and wrongs of the proposed action (although if the reported 2% take it or leave it offer is accurate it is appalling given the inflation rates now and predicted for next year) but asking how on earth they will the rank and file cope. I am sure Serwotka will be relatively unaffected!

 

Passport workers don't administer benefits, he was talking about wider civil servant roles.

I'm not sure what alternative they have?

 

Decent bloke Mark , we need more Union leaders like him , if the workers don’t want to strike they won’t vote for it . When you vote to strike you know exactly what you are voting for and sometimes enough is enough

 

With respect, you did not really address my question, nor as I stated, was I posting regarding the rights and wrongs of the action but the affordability for those taking part. Having been in the fortunate position during my working life of never having been on strike I have no idea of the impact (although the suffering of the miners in the protracted strike was there for all to see.) That example in itself is enough to suggest that striking rarely achieves the desired results, although as you rightly say, there comes a point when, however much personally it impacts upon you and family life, logic flies out of the window and desperation takes over.
My post was a genuine question, how will strikers, particularly those with families, manage?

 

Would imagine if anything like the NHS they will be working additional hours avail around the action dates to plug the gap. In some cases unions do provide a payment to those on strike to mitigate some of the losses too.

 

The miners strike is not a comparison. It was a fight for jobs and against pit closures on purely economic grounds. Not pay. And against the backdrop of Thatchers desire to break All unions.
As for pay. Striking often results in better offers and as Durkar says it's a democratic vote, and in the case of some unions, requires a vote well above 51%. In some cases as much as 70% to take full on strike action. Whereas work to rule or overtime bans are the norm.
With those not in the union. For me they ride on the backs of those that are. (Those In collective bargaining) . Reaping the same rewards. It's why I refused to discuss issues with them. As they would invariably say. "Union will do **** all for me"

I'm in agreement with unite on the NHS offer. It'll be interesting how the vote goes as I think it's a very poor offer. The one off payment should at least be consolidated into the basic pay.

 

Well they voted for it?

 

The Union will have a hardship fund but it’s not easy being on strike

 

Striking is always a last resort. Union leaders don't want it, because a protracted dispute can damage their relationship with the membership, especially amongst those who were dubious in the first place. Union members don't want it for obvious reasons. But sometimes it's the only option.

It's difficult to ignore the immediate financial impact on members' income, but it's worth noting that in the long term strikers will generally be better off for it - providing they get an increased offer. An extra one or two percent doesn't sound like much if you've just lost a sizable amount of cash, but it's a permanent increase and will apply for every year you have left to work until retirement. Admittedly it's not great if you're already close to retirement, you may never get back the money lost during strike action, but if you're at the younger end you should be better off in the long run - fingers crossed!

That just leaves the problem of not starving in the here and now. I wish I had an answer to that one. I sincerely hope people get the support they need to help them through it, whether it's family, friends, food banks or whatever/whoever.

 

You couldn’t resist your dig at the Mark Serwotka thought could you. Just a bit of background for you, I served as a Branch official in the PCS Union it is a well- organised union with responsible and excellent leadership. Mark was very Ill at one point fighting cancer, (not sure what the state of that is now) but as soon as he was fit enough again he was back to his post. Anyone involved in a union will I am sure agree, you are at you busiest and under more pressure in the build-up to, and when industrial action is taken. Many in the DWP are on NMW after years of no pay rise and some as low as 1%. They have had their terms and conditions changed almost beyond recognition. They pay more for their pensions and get less out and retire later. This govt won’t even adhere to the High- court ruling that Civil Servants are paying at least 2% more into their pension scheme than they should. The attacks from govt on the Civil Service are and continue to be incessant. The difference is this time the members have come out in their record numbers and voted overwhelmingly to say enough is enough. Good luck to one and all in the PCS.

 

Tug the forelock and take it then?

 

So, to be clear, is your advice that they just suck it all up?

 

Threads you wish you hadn’t opened # 234779.

 

And that figure is just applicable to Tekkytyke's threads...

 

I'm in Unison and we've been paid strike pay. Not sure which other unions do so.

Our local branch membership has increased by 400 people since September due to the hostility of our University employers.

 

Where was the 'dig'? As I said it was a genuine question as how people manage in the situation of taking part in a protracted strike. I simply quoted Mark Serwotka's statement regarding food banks to emphasise the difficulties Passport Office employees were experiencing leading up to a 5 week strike. That is what made me ask how people manage.

 

Yes I know it was a genuine question about how people manage, but why the above quote then?

 

Certainly not.

Again no! It was a genuine question as to how people manage when they have kids/ mortgages and little if any savings to fall back on.

 

Only because union leaders have to reconcile recommending drastic measures that will inevitably lead to hardship for their membership with the potential long term benefit and their own personal circumstances. It was simply an observation that it is not dissimilar to Generals ordering troops into the firing line. That is not a dig. To win a war, unpalatable decisions have to be made but it is always the front line troops who suffer the most.
Sadly, thanks to Government's penny pinching over many years they have created a situation where they have recreated the 60's and 70's 'them vs us' climate which we had started to move away from and have sensible negotiations. The problem is the pay has fallen so far behind the costs of living that a huge re-adjustment is well over due and given that every public sector employee is affected the bill to redress teh situation would be massive. (If you don't service your car regularly it will eventually land you with a huge bill usually at a time when you can least afford it)

 

The point is, the members have lost so much by being passive and accepting of constant govt attacks over the years, those that previously voted against taking action or didn’t vote at all. ( remember they have to have at least a 50% turn- out for the result of the strike ballot to be viable/legal) are now acting. The Union leaders won’t be sat back like old- style battlefield generals, they are working flat-out even to just to shame Govt ministers to come to the table, as we have increasingly seen in the other strikes