Surprisingly high public support for yesterdays strikes

ei.sdraob

Tipp Man wrote: »

Nesf and Scofflaw have done some excellent (which you will enjoy reading). Its the sticky thread at the top of the irish economy

thanks! didnt see that appearing there

bryaner

Tigerbaby wrote: »

I have to feel sorry for those who are agitated against the Public Servants. You have been manipulated by the vested interests of Government, the entire Banking system, ISME, IBEC, several large Media outlets. Your job as useful(less?) idiots is to foist this dissension and division among *all* PAYE workers. You have been primed to hit out at whatever soft and available target is within the short range of your sights ( Public Servants, Thierry Henry,... whatever ). Your mission ( though you dont know it ) is to deflect and distract the identification of the real perpetrators of the THEFT and FRAUD of our Nation.

When are you going to wake up and see that the Public Service is not the problem. The Public service did not create the economic situation in which all taxpayers find themselves. You should be grateful to the PS Unions and their members who are WITHOUT PAY for yesterdays action. They, at least, are the ones who are drawing a line in the sand against the Government, Builders and Bankers. The PS employee did not gain from the largesse of the Celtic Tiger years. They werent the "breakfast roll" man who, like a supermodel, wouldnt get out of bed for less than 10 grand. They werent the Banks, developers, estate agents, building societies etc who talked up this horrific bubble, which is now spewing its escaping poisonous gasses onto the Nation. If you are going to expend your bile and anger, and we all should be very angry, then at least find the real criminals.

In conclusion, please wake up and see that you are victims of a giant scam. Now, Hold onto your anger for election time. Because the real answer is in the overthrow of this shambolic economic system and government. Dont waste your anger by attacking normal people who have already suffered 15-20% pay cuts in the last year.

I am old enough to remember the last time that the Nation suffered. I understand the anger that many of you are expressing. But please, I ask you to stand back and look and look again. Hold onto your anger. dont waste it in attacking innocent people. HOld onto your anger, but think cold and hard. HOLD ONTO YOUR ANGER, and wait for election time.

The PAYE worker will get nothing out of the division that is being sowed. Search for the Guilty, and punish them !

Those of you who genuinely seek a better way will take this message to your hearts and minds. Those of you who are Thatchers Children will doubtless respond with spitting fury. Would the real people of Ireland please stand up.

Hear hear well said tigerbaby the government policy of driving a wedge between public sector and private sector has worked and taken the heat of them (and i dont work for the public sector im unemployed)

ei.sdraob

bryaner wrote: »

Hear hear well said tigerbaby the government policy of driving a wedge between public sector and private sector has worked and taken the heat of them (and i dont work for the public sector im unemployed)

aren't the government part of the public sector?

weren't they on strike too?

Tigerbaby

Deleted User wrote: »

Bull.
If it can't be paid for then it goes.Simple.
If it's not efficient then make it efficient-not so simple without sackings.

Oh yeah...wait 3 years borrowing 500 million a week...
Your logic is astounding.
Incidentally have you heard Fine Gaels opinion on bloat in the public services? You wouldn't like it..
I]

As for your memory of the last big recession in the 80's...do you remember the very high taxes that destroyed incentives and caused 100's of 1000's to emigrate? Oh and the huge escalating borrowings that brought thta on because ...well governments didn't grasp the nettle in time.

The IMF will.

.

Lol at the superfluous waffle.

..



then lets first and foremost start with the banks. The credit shortage was the trigger for the economic problems which have led to Businesses closing down and people being laid off. Why oh why are we throwing 65 billion euros into a failed economic system ? To use your logic above, lets first cull the banks.

I dont like *anything* Fine Gael propose. Tweedledum and Tweedledee ..[/

Again, IMF are part of the problem, not the fix. Representative of Banks, Banking and Usury.... The Kernel of all our woes. The reason why Banks get rich in downturns as well as upturns. Check Goldmann Sachs posted earnings for last 4 quarters.

None so deaf as those who will not hear. And judging by your 18000 posts, you're not exactly too productive in your daily life. Laugh Out Loud indeed... make sense or stop spewing

irish_bob

bridgitt wrote: »

True , but unfortunately the opposition parties do not want so cut public sector pay and pensions in a proper manner either, so basically the country is in a bad way and getting worse. Our borrowing will go through the roof yet.

fine gael dont want to because they believe it will hurt them electorally , labour dont want to because they actually believe in that ****

Sizzler

brianthebard wrote: »

Poll to prove this?

I'd say there's much higher support for the strikes than boards would lead us to believe. Its just that those who are against the strikes shout the loudest here.

By the same token can we see a poll to support the belief that there was "surprisingly high public support"?

Sarcasm may also have escaped some of the picketers as well, people walking by saying "good on ye lads, keep it going" and the strikers thinking they are going great guns :rolleyes:

Sizzler

Boards has been accused of being anti-union and anti-public sector over the last few days.

Perhaps the nay-sayers should look beyond boards and have a read of the letters pages from todays Irish Times, or maybe the IT readers are all bias as well :rolleyes:

wrote:

A chara, – In light of Tuesday’s strike and the proposal of a further strike next week, perhaps the public sector trade unions are in fact doing their bit for the public finances? The country appears to be continuing to function and the State is likely to have its public sector wage bill reduced by 20 per cent for two consecutive weeks. Long may this continue. – Is mise,


DAN BARRY,

King’s Inns Court,

Phibsboro, Dublin 7.


Madam, – The trade unions have co-operated to give us a day of action which has deprived many people of normal services. To me this day of action has been both divisive and inconclusive.

Why don’t these trade unions collaborate in setting up a flood disaster fund and invite their members and all those with assured incomes and pensions to contribute a day’s pay to the fund? This would be a practical way to show solidarity with those who are suffering serious damage to their homes, businesses and property as a result of the present floods. – Yours, etc,

SEAMUS KILLEEN,

Glencarraig,

Sutton, Dublin 13.

Madam, – I had to chuckle at Mr Alan Costello’s letter (November 24th) claiming he was striking for “a cap of about €100,000 on public service salaries, including those of Government Ministers” while many voluntarily give their union dues to keep the union heads’ reported salaries well above his proposed cap. Slightly ironic don’t you think? – Yours, etc,

STEPHEN FRASER,

Castle Court,

Kilgobbin Wood,

Sandyford, Dublin 18.

Madam, – Leaving the house on Tuesday I put the bins out before catching a bus into Blackrock to collect a parcel from the post office on the way to the Dart station. – Yours, etc,

ANDREW PUPLETT,

Eaton Square,

Monkstown,

Co Dublin.

Madam, – While passing smoothly through the city centre on Tuesday morning, an instant solution to Dublin’s traffic woes occurred to me – no more civil service free parking! – Yours, etc,

OISIN KIERNAN,

Haverty Road,

Marino,

Dublin 3.

Madam, – I am flabbergasted to witness 250,000 people in the public sector strike on Tuesday at a time when there are more than 400,000 people crying out for a job.

I am fortunate enough to be in full-time employment and expect to remain so for the foreseeable future. Why? Because I took a pay cut, agreed to work extra hours and agreed to changes in my work practices over the past year.

It’s time people realised that we are in a recession and it isn’t going away any time soon, despite predictions to the contrary.

Be grateful for your job if you have one; and if you don’t, you must be seething watching 250,000 people in good employment whinge and moan. They should get down on their knees at night and thank God for their good fortune, because there are thousands of people far worse off than them facing a bleak Christmas and an uncertain future. – Yours, etc,

JOHN WHYTE,

Ennis,

Co Clare.

Madam, – As the National Strike Day draws to a close, I can report no impact whatsoever on my working day or on my family’s day (other than having the children home, and having to rejig things to ensure cover). As another day of strike is being proposed for December, I say, let the civil service strike. Really, who cares? Their overall contribution will not be missed, and these strikes simply underpin the civil service’s vision of Old Ireland, which the rest of the rational population does not share. – Yours, etc,

JOHN GALLEN,

Rosepark,

Balrothery,

Co Dublin.

Morgans

On the idea that public sector didnt create the problem.

In some ways the public sector are right, they could only but accept the benchmarking increases using the union led arguement that it was on the backs of public services workers on which Ireland was the runaway success that it appeared to be.

With hindsight many "average" public sector workers might regret spending their increased wages on securing big mortgages on overpriced apartments and starter homes. It was not their intention to make the developers richer and help to keep a property bubble inflated. It is unfortunate that Ireland's success after benchmarking was based on transactional taxes and a bit of a mirage.

I cannot see how anyone (public or private sector) can think that benchmarking didnt affect the competitiveness of the country and played no part in the current fiscal deficit. I cannot understand the logic of the counter arguement.

Riskymove

Sizzler wrote: »

Perhaps the nay-sayers should look beyond boards and have a read of the letters pages from todays Irish Times, or maybe the IT readers are all bias as well :rolleyes:

can someone not be a boards user and an IT reader?

gurramok

brianthebard wrote: »

Poll to prove this?

I'd say there's much higher support for the strikes than boards would lead us to believe. Its just that those who are against the strikes shout the loudest here.

That post belongs in the Humour forum

Anyway, boards ran polls on the two Lisbon Treaties and guess what, the results of both were remarkably similar to the real results so yes, boards does attract a wide range of society contributing.

Ask an Admin about the above if you don't believe me.

Zulu

bryaner wrote: »

Hear hear well said tigerbaby the government policy of driving a wedge between public sector and private sector has worked and taken the heat of them (and i dont work for the public sector im unemployed)

That’s a laugh! You two do realise, that in order for the Government to pull off the media operation that you are suggesting, would require them to actually be competent?

Sizzler

Riskymove wrote: »

can someone not be a boards user and an IT reader?

No, its against the charter.

Riskymove

Sizzler wrote: »

No, its against the charter.

I'll have to give one up so......*puts on thinking hat*

Tim Robbins

Liam79 wrote: »

I joined my wife and her colleagues for their picket action yesterday, 3 hours standing in the lashing rain. I was shocked and delighted at the amount of support they received from passing motorists. I had feared for them so i came to offer morale support but i need not have! They received huge support in the form of cheers, horns and well wishes from the passing public. And listening to the various Vox Pops on the various radio stations yesterday asking the general public for their view on the strikes it was about 60/40 in support.
So well done people of Ireland. I should never have lost faith.

In fairness, the people they are alienating are at work or looking for work. They are hardly going to be walking around town offering their opinions. that doesn't put the bread on the table.

Dr. Greenthumb

it's very for the PS to shout about the government and banks being the villians in all this however if the PS planning department didn't dish out planning permissions to the highest bidder without any regard for future amenities and community there wouldn't be the level of bad debt the country has today. Another thing that annoys me is people giving out about mortage repayments etc, these people were stupid enough to take out huge mortgages and now want to be bailed out for their stupidity.

i'd love to see league tables showing the comparison of the average teachers wage in Ireland compared to the rest of Europe and then the corresponding eductaion tables to show the quality of teaching available.

See below extract from http://www.businessandfinance.ie/index.jsp?p=152&n=480&a=1755

"In most instances, international rankings for Ireland did not include any universities other than Trinity College, Dublin and University College, Dublin - a situation that corresponds to a relatively poor performance of the overall university system in Ireland compared to the majority of the surveyed states. In fact, Ireland achieves listings for three universities (Trinity College, Dublin - ranked 203rd, University College, Dublin - ranked 305th and University College, Cork - ranked 403rd) in only one of three league tables - those prepared by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University team. When the best performing university is removed from the system rankings - allowing to correct for historical imbalances in university systems development - the Irish third level education system is ranked 33rd out of 38 countries."

The lecturers in colleges earn huge wages for what exactly??

Sorry, annoyance at the whole PS has led this to be a somewhat rushed post :mad:

pokerface_me

Anyone that wants to stay on a permanant strike i'm sure the people who just lost their jobs at budget travel and ep mooney will glady fill in for you.

Bruce2008

Listening to some of the contributers on this thread is sickening, alot of people out to bash the public sector.... my wife works part time in a hospital and already took a 7 1/2% paycut... more than I did and I work in the 'public sector'....

I would wager a bet to say that some of the people whinging on this thread would not have got their arse out of bed for that man's 31k during the boom times...

Every business has the big earners and the small earners, nothing different in the public sector, where I work there is a clear majority of upper level staff than lower level.

Even RTE jumped on the bandwagon with the reporting of the increased shopping in the north claiming it was striking public service workers up shopping, most of them were picketing! I'm sure the majority of shoppers were people who just had to take a day off and decided to go christmas shopping... biased reporting in my opinion, they never reported as they usually would, about the loss in income to the goverment that this shopping was causing, (not my opinion!! theirs!!)

As far as I'm concerned everybody, including the public sector have taken a hit in wages... the government and some of the media has developed this public/private split to take the focus from other items, e.g Dail expenses, stupid spending by some areas in government, 500k for the 'new' boss of a bank...etc.

Bruce2008

Woops meant to say:

...my wife works part time in a hospital and already took a 7 1/2% paycut... more than I did and I work in the 'private sector'....

Danco

Sizzler wrote: »

Boards has been accused of being anti-union and anti-public sector over the last few days.

Perhaps the nay-sayers should look beyond boards and have a read of the letters pages from todays Irish Times, or maybe the IT readers are all bias as well :rolleyes:

No, just the Irish Times editor.

ei.sdraob

Bruce2008 wrote: »

Woops meant to say:

...my wife works part time in a hospital and already took a 7 1/2% paycut... more than I did and I work in the 'private sector'....

if she has it so bad why doesnt she get a job in private hospital?

yeh taught so

Tim Robbins

Bruce2008 wrote: »

As far as I'm concerned everybody, including the public sector have taken a hit in wages... the government and some of the media has developed this public/private split to take the focus from other items, e.g Dail expenses, stupid spending by some areas in government, 500k for the 'new' boss of a bank...etc.

Nonsense, the public sector went to great lengths to co-ordinate with each other to engage in a massive strike. They didn't consult anyone in the private sector. Such actions create adversary between the two groups. It's real us and them.

Danco

irish_bob wrote: »

yeah , he got a two week stint in the can for expressing an opinion

Long overdue in fairness.

Sizzler

The two most common Voxpop's from yesterday's pickets.....

"Blame the bankers for this mess not the public sector" - Bankers regulated by the financial regulator, i.e. public service.

"Sure didn't the builders get us where we are?" - Builders were subject to planning laws before even turning a sod, who granted the planning? Oh, the county councils and An Bord Planala, public sector agencies.

The irony of it all.

Sizzler

Bruce2008 wrote: »

Woops meant to say:

...my wife works part time in a hospital and already took a 7 1/2% paycut... more than I did and I work in the 'private sector'....

You did well so, some people in the private sector have taken 30% paycuts, count yourself one of the privileged few.

Tigerbaby

Pokerface... what an assinine comment. Are you questioning the right to strike here? WHat other civil liberties would you like to prescribe ? How PS workers have *anything* to do with a failed business I would really really like to know. People dont have money to be spending on holidays and cars. Now if you'd like to know why this is the case then please read my previous answer about credit crisis/ banks bail-out to see where all of our cash has gone. Yes, folks, its back to the core of the problem. ALL OF OUR MONEY HAS BEEN HOOVERED UP TO KEEP THE FINANCIAL QUANGOS AFLOAT... ( BANKS, BANKS, BANKS )..

Now, Is that clear enough for you ?

Dr. Greenthumb

the pension levy isn't a paycut!! the pension levy is charging PS workers for the pension contribution that they get from the taxpayers. What if you were in the private sector earning minimum wage? You wouldn't be even able to contribute to a pension!

i'm in the private sector and i've taken a 25% paycut so far, my hours have increased by 20 - 25% and pressure / stress has increased tenfold. The PS live in a bubble of ignorance which appears to expand and engulf their spouse also.

i was getting paid well during the boom but i worked for it by the hours i put in and the constant good performance of projects i was on. PS got pay increases through benchmarking for what? Being the biggest lobby group in Ireland maybe? Majority were unjustified and then they had the cheek to back date them. PS are tied into this government and guilty by association. i guarantee you if FF came out and said they would cut the required money from the budget without touching the PS they be voted in again in the morning despite everything else they have done.

Bruce2008

ei.sdraob wrote: »

if she has it so bad why doesnt she get a job in private hospital?

yeh taught so

I am just stating the fact that she has taken a wage cut... more of a wage cut that I have had to take in the private sector... I never said she had it 'so bad'... so please show some education and stop picking on stupid little arguments...

Sizzler

Tigerbaby wrote: »

Now if you'd like to know why this is the case then please read my previous answer about credit crisis/ banks bail-out to see where all of our cash has gone. Yes, folks, its back to the core of the problem. ALL OF OUR MONEY HAS BEEN HOOVERED UP TO KEEP THE FINANCIAL QUANGOS AFLOAT... ( BANKS, BANKS, BANKS )..

Now, Is that clear enough for you ?

Don't you mean The Financial Ombudsman and The Financial Regulator?

Tim Robbins

Sizzler wrote: »

The two most common Voxpop's from yesterday's pickets.....

"Blame the bankers for this mess not the public sector" - Bankers regulated by the financial regulator, i.e. public service.

"Sure didn't the builders get us where we are?" - Builders were subject to planning laws before even turning a sod, who granted the planning? Oh, the county councils and An Bord Planala, public sector agencies.

The irony of it all.

Please put a letter in the Irish Times about that. Very good points.

Bruce2008

Sizzler wrote: »

You did well so, some people in the private sector have taken 30% paycuts, count yourself one of the privileged few.

At the moment I count myself lucky... I could well be out of a job in a month or two... maybe not... I just hate this anti public service talk... sure some are on big wages... like alot of industries... have we all forgotten the big wages, bonuses and a wage increase this year that the banks have given themselves.. with government money proping them up!!!