On National Strikes

I’ve not been on a train today, and neither have I experienced any bad customer service.*  Fear not, however, the trade unions are making threats again, and  that is also usually enough to bring me running to this corner of the Blogosphere with a need to vent my spleen.

From what I can see, the BBC article is outlining another classic tale of self-centred union politics.  As with all good strikes, the reasons behind this latest national threat are left unclear.  There is mention of the fact that some workers are due to have a pay freeze, but if that was a genuine reason to get uppity then I’d already expect to be hearing wails of complaint from the myriad of hard working private sector folk for whom that is currently a reality.  One of these days, these people will learn to be grateful for not being made redundant.

Interestingly, the unions talk in terms of “targeted” areas.  That sounds a bit specific for a general complaint about pay.  I don’t know why it’s taking them so long to draw up a list though, because any fool knows that the areas they will target are those with a Conservative MP and/or council.**  Maybe part of their fundraising strategy is to eek out a bit more sponsorship from Ed Milliband and the Labour Party and they need time to give a bit of a “pay up or else” ultimatum.  Who knows.***

*Actually, I’ve had almost no customer service today.  It’s been a dull day.

**I’m sure some of you will naively accuse me of being unnecessarily political.  Let’s just see where the strikes happen, and then you can agree that I was right to be cynical.

***On second thoughts, maybe they’re just slow.  After all, if they couldn’t find anyone more eloquent than the person who only answered “yep” to the BBC then it doesn’t bode well…

 

 

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