National Strike off

mike65

Fancy that. The unions are going to engage in talks instead.

leitrim lad

ya and all the talking they will do is listening,the unions are not entitled to talk in the current climate,only politicains who were voted in by the public should be entitled to talk,the unions should listen,crowd of wafflers

Rabidlamb

Treasonous losers realised there'd be no public support.
Cowen gave them a chance to save face.

Wait till they get double whammied in the budget like the rest if us.

greendom

Common sense prevails - not often you can say that in recent times

leitrim lad

they deserve it ,it is there own fault ,i always said the loud mouth always comes out the worst, and look whats happening now to all the public sector workers who are in unions, and them union leaders are as corrupt as sean fitzpatrick ever will be

Stevek101

Just have to worry about Dublin Bus now.;)

LoLth

ok, so they are scum for wanting to strike and now that they are more than liekly calling off the strike in favour of attendign talks with the government, they are still scum or "treasonous losers".

FFS, make up your minds or are you just so bigotted that it doesnt matter what anyone in the PS/Union - which many seem to mistakenly believe are public sector only - does, you'll hate them anyway whether you know them or ever had any dealing with them or not ?

I'd have thought you'd be happy that there isnt going to be a strike (i know I am).

leitrim lad

well not only ff is on their cases shane ross let rip yesterday about the proposed airport strike,and he was right to,cos in laymans terms the unions are just trying to knock the current government and bankrupt the country, and one lesson i learned many years ago is that you dont bite the hand that feeds you ,no matter how small the rashen is, the unions need to lear that lesson too

ateam

IMPACTs failure to get the support needed to carry a strike was decisive I think. They realised that they don't have the kind of support they're promoting from within their membership for strike action.

White dargo

leitrim lad wrote: »

cos in laymans terms the unions are just trying to knock the current government and bankrupt the country,

For the record I disagreed with the proposed strike also but you are getting preposterous now:rolleyes:

leitrim lad

people are coping on to how bad this mess is and they are not going to follow a union who intends on making it worse

flogen

The unions must realise the main decisions for the new budget have already been made* and the Government won't be looking for any ideas from them, just window dressing.

At least I hope they have at this stage!

greendom

leitrim lad wrote: »

the unions are just trying to knock the current government and bankrupt the country,

I didn't realise Arthur Scargill had taken up a career in the Irish Trade Union movement

ronbyrne2005

A decent leader, sensing the public opposition to the unions, would have called their bluff and let them strike. He would then be in a much stronger position. He should not have invited them to more long drawn out futile "discussions".

leitrim lad

seems like he just has,they wont be happy until the imf have to be called in

Rabidlamb

LoLth wrote: »

ok, so they are scum for wanting to strike and now that they are more than liekly calling off the strike in favour of attendign talks with the government, they are still scum or "treasonous losers".

FFS, make up your minds or are you just so bigotted that it doesnt matter what anyone in the PS/Union - which many seem to mistakenly believe are public sector only - does, you'll hate them anyway whether you know them or ever had any dealing with them or not ?

I'd have thought you'd be happy that there isnt going to be a strike (i know I am).

Yes I'm happy but I want to sit down & slowly stroke my cat first.
Me 1 PS 0.

leitrim lad

and hopefully by the end of these talks it will be me 2 . ps 0

Carlow52

ronbyrne2005 wrote: »

A decent leader, sensing the public opposition to the unions, would have called their bluff and let them strike. He would then be in a much stronger position. He should not have invited them to more long drawn out futile "discussions".

Well put. The talks at AL lasted 4 years.

Having read this
http://www.rte.ie/business/2009/0325/exchequer.html
stating that the borrowing figure still not agreed on is scary

brettmirl

I'd love to know how much the strike that never was cost the unions in printing ballot papers, arranging meetings, press ads, posters, etc.

Darragh29

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Treasonous losers realised there'd be no public support.
Cowen gave them a chance to save face.

Wait till they get double whammied in the budget like the rest if us.

What'll happen now is when the budget comes out, people will just bypass the unions and down tools of their own acccord.

The government are probably afraid there will be riots after the April budget and want the unions onside rather than have them fanning the flames ouside the comedy that is the partnership process. Imagine going on strike in the current climate because you didn't get a payrise!!!

leitrim lad

hopefully 98% of their yearly budget and if so they will be a quiat bunch for the rest of the recession

greendom

ronbyrne2005 wrote: »

A decent leader, sensing the public opposition to the unions, would have called their bluff and let them strike. He would then be in a much stronger position. He should not have invited them to more long drawn out futile "discussions".

i don't agree with that. Surely, in this time of crisis, he should be looking for agreement and consensus. How will anyone benefit from further retrenchment and bitterness ?

For once I have to say - well done Cowen

ronbyrne2005

greendom wrote: »

i don't agree with that. Surely, in this time of crisis, he should be looking for agreement and consensus. How will anyone benefit from further retrenchment and bitterness ?

For once I have to say - well done Cowen

The unions only represent a fraction of the workers in this country. The public sector unions dont care about the massive unemployment in Private sector, they simply want to maintain the maximum pay and conditions for their members REGARDLESS of the consequences for those in wider economy. The country is going bankrupt and needs urgent deciscive action. The government spoke to the unions for months before announcing the pension levy and unions agreed to nothing. Social partnership only worked when we were already on the floor and when Bertie and co had lots of tax revenue to buy votes and elections. Unions dont want to accept any pay cuts, but the money is not there, the well is dry and we can not afford to pay current public sector pay levels which are the highest in Eurozone. Becnhmarking should work on way down too but hypoctical greedy unions wont accept this. They want all the benefits but none of the downside of the "capitalist" economic cycle.

stevoman

meh, i was looking forward to striking again.

leitrim lad

in my own opinion and i know this will cause upraor but anyway, i think the whole public sector needs to be restructured,and so what if the half of them loose their job,they are still going to live off the state on the dole,and do as much work as they already do.
there is too many golden circles in the p s also and they need to be wiped out ,clear them all out fas is one good example to begin with then the hse, opw ,nra, and so on even the county councils if you want a job in any of those your parents and grandparents have to be well up the ladder already to get you in and thats not right

ixoy

Glad to see it off - I'll go further than Leitrim Lad and think that the government should see the names of every single person who voted for strike action and have them executed and their heads mounted on a wall as a reminder to those who dare question power

More seriously, I'd imagine this is merely a postponement of industrial action rather than an end to it. ICTU are demanding people look at their little 10-point plan which is still a fairly weak one and is lacking in little matters like revenue figures.

leitrim lad

fair play ixoy , the power needs to be shown to them shower in the ps/u ,who do they think they are,me and you pay there wages , we pay for them to waste our money around the country,they are not tax payers in the ps ,they are just putting our money around in a circle, and eventually it ends up in a pension for them ,they dont work hard, they dont deserve more money, they should be lucy to even be spongen off us proper tax payers in the first place

greendom

ronbyrne2005 wrote: »

The unions only represent a fraction of the workers in this country. The public sector unions dont care about the massive unemployment in Private sector, they simply want to maintain the maximum pay and conditions for their members REGARDLESS of the consequences for those in wider economy. The country is going bankrupt and needs urgent deciscive action. The government spoke to the unions for months before announcing the pension levy and unions agreed to nothing. Social partnership only worked when we were already on the floor and when Bertie and co had lots of tax revenue to buy votes and elections. Unions dont want to accept any pay cuts, but the money is not there, the well is dry and we can not afford to pay current public sector pay levels which are the highest in Eurozone. Becnhmarking should work on way down too but hypoctical greedy unions wont accept this. They want all the benefits but none of the downside of the "capitalist" economic cycle.

Regardless, they are an important interest group and deserve their place at the table. If Cowen can accommodate them without hampering his plans to stabilise the economy that will be a major plus. To force them to lose face and leave them on the sidelines fuming will be of no benefit to anyone. Industrial strife is the last thing the economy needs at the moment. Granted the unions need to play their part and realise the seriousness of the situation.

oscarBravo

greendom wrote: »

To force them to lose face and leave them on the sidelines fuming will be of no benefit to anyone.

It worries me that such a major player in the economy needs to be treated like a petulant child.

Dr Galen

leitrim lad wrote: »

fair play ixoy , the power needs to be shown to them shower in the ps/u ,who do they think they are,me and you pay there wages , we pay for them to waste our money around the country,they are not tax payers in the ps ,they are just putting our money around in a circle, and eventually it ends up in a pension for them ,they dont work hard, they dont deserve more money, they should be lucy to even be spongen off us proper tax payers in the first place

what are you talking about?

People in the public sector pay taxes like you and me in the private. When I did work in public sector I also made pretty big contributions into my pension fund, so although it got nicely topped up by the state, it certainly wasn't free as you seem to think.

To say that public sector workers don't work hard is crass and a large disservice to people. You obviously have a rather large axe to grind, wouldn't you be better off taking out all that anger on the government who allowed this situation to happen?

Dr Galen

oscarBravo wrote: »

It worries me that such a major player in the economy needs to be treated like a petulant child.

agreed, but maybe its a necessary evil for the times we're in right now. Even though they have been invited back though the Brians should not be giving in to any old demands though. If after this round of talks a proper, final and useful agreement can't be reached, then let them strike and see where it gets them. TBH support even within their own ranks is wavering,