A government elected to absolute power by 23% of those entitled to vote, legislates that just to go on strike will require the support of 40% of those entitled to vote.
Update
I find further explanation is necessary. The government proposal is that not only must a majority of those voting cast their ballot in favour of a strike (which is democracy), but in addition that the number voting for the strike must also amount to 40% of those who were eligible to vote. Yet we have no such provision in a general election, where not only did the government get only 37% of those who did vote, it received under a quarter of the votes of those who were eligible to vote. the government is asking for a high
The right to withdraw your labour is the difference between a free man and a slave. Anybody who believes that the British economy has a problem with too many workers’ rights is very far right indeed. The gap between rich and poor had expanded massively in both private and public sectors, as the gap between workers’ pay and bosses’ pay grows ever wider.
In fact the first focus of the Tory government is on removing rights that protect ordinary people from their betters, be they human rights or employment rights.
The greater hypocrisy is David Cameron’s supposed opposition to terrorism when he is carrying out terrorism offences in Iraq.
See
http://britishmilitaryterrorism.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/letter-to-francis-habgood-re-section-56.html
for report to Chief Constable Francis Habgood of Thames Valley Police.
Action?
Zilch (so far).
I’ve just had a conditional offer of one years employment in the public sector, barring any DBS objections.
I don’t do socialism, so if 95% of the union voted to stop me getting my wage, I’ll be 100% likely to oppose them with extreme prejudice; so it doesn’t really bother me where the politicos draw the line in the sand… I’ve got my ‘moleskins’ on, and I’m ready to rumble.
🙂
Ms May set out how she will radicalise Britain’s students and youth, a whole new plan to create disaffection over and above what is already in existence.
First response by Tories is to lash out at those unfortunate to have not bothered to vote, what a sad bunch of hypocrites indeed.
her focus on schools and how they are run, the criminalisation of other thinking/opinion is straight out of Orson Wells handbook.
JimmyGiro
You seem to misunderstand the situation. You don’t have to join the union and you don’t have to go on strike.
You’re right Mr Murray; I don’t understand striking, since I don’t see how cutting off ones nose helps your face… unless your the elephant man.
I don’t acquiesce with socialism ,and neither does the majority of the voting public; therefore you fail to see the moral insignificance of the unions, and their deranged attacks against British worker’s interests.
The right to withdraw your labour is nothing whatsoever to do with socialism. It is the difference between a slave and a free man. If you think that Britain has a problem today with an excess of workers’ rights, you really are rather strange.
Striking is more than a personal choice of a worker, it is the group effort of the socialist union to intimidate the other workers via picket.
(i) People are strange; because we are natural; and natural entities are spontaneous and unpredictable.
(ii) Socialism is contrived; therefore understandable and predictable.
The first is the spirit of freedom, the second is socialism.
Very true Craig – was just doing the same maths.
Network Rail bosses have been pushing the same anti-union line as their political masters, making a big deal that “only” 48% of all union members voted to strike.
But obviously they think it’s OK that those very same masters have only been put there by 23% of registered voters. And don’t forget that a lot of people aren’t registered.
And talking of Network Rail, Phil Hufton who is in charge of network operations is getting a basic salary of £425,000 (plus a bonus that will be between £9,800 and £85,000) – even as he tells low paid workers they have to accept a zero pay offer this year.
I wonder what happened to Cameron’s speech before the election where he said “Britain deserves a pay rise”.
And I wonder how fat cat train operators could put their fares up by 2.2% on average this January without a word of protest from Cameron and his mates…
We ain’t seen nothing yet.
Wait until the Tory types see the NHS disappear and discover that they cannot afford the private insurance premiums.
A couple of years ago, before I became ill, I got a quote from BUPA. For very basic cover with no pre existing conditions (cover for which would have been excluded of course) was just under £2,500 pa.
I assume JimmyGiro will only accept the pay and conditions in his original contract of employment?
Any increase in pay gained through strike action will be refused?
The very smooth and robotic Ms Patel has been on Sky News. A media offensive is in operation today obviously.
‘Real jobs for real people’ was her mantra. Very scary. She should do well under IDS. Tobacco and alcohol have got her where she is today.
She is the one who wanted the death penalty revived.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_for_Work_and_Pensions
Followed by Theresa and her ‘extremism’ crackdown. Go to Israel Theresa to see ‘extremism’ in action against the Palestinians.
I assume JimmyGiro will only accept the pay and conditions in his original contract of employment?
Lucky Jimmy. He’s got a contract. Watch the employers queuing up to award contracts once the unions are safely neutralised. Zero hours contracts, that is.
@ Juteman
It’s the PUBLIC sector; will the public have any say on how far the socialist unions can treat the public sector as their own private sinecure, with pay hikes from the public purse?
If you pinkos believe in sharing, then vote for all public sector jobs to be made part-time, with a 20 hour week maximum? That would generate over 5 million new part-time positions, sufficient to offer gainful employment to ALL the unemployed, whilst not adding to the public’s financial burden.
But then that would upset the feminists and sodomites, who make up most of the PUBLIC sector workforce; whereas most long term unemployed are men.
Come on boys and girls, how can it be hypocrisy for a majority vicious tory government to start implementing vicious tory policies from day one?
I’ll tell you what real hypocrisy is. The Saudi and Qatar regimes involved up to their eyeballs in USUKIS plans for US hegemony, funding a plan that was conceived decades ago to create a US/zionist Chaliphate, populated by ignorant idealists from around the Muslim world with the blessings of their political imams, stealing Syria from the Syrian people, threatening the Muslim population with sexual crimes and the scholars of Islam say: You cannot criticise the scholars of Islam. If you do, you will receive the wrath and curse of God.
That is hypocrisy. In Islam, if your leaders are wrong, there is no listening and no obeying. Fortunately for those of us who believe in God, the wool-pulling imams of Saudi and Qatar have been exposed on the internet as collaborators and crooks who work with the zionist USUKIS with all their war on terror scams.
I fear 38 Degrees petitions are going to fall on the deaf ears of these Tory thugs.
‘David Cameron wants us to think that everyone agrees with his plan to scrap the Human Rights Act. [1] But only 24% of us actually voted for his government. [2]
Unbelievably, he’s trying to abolish the law which gives us the right not to be tortured, the right to a fair trial and the right to an education. [3] It allows any of us to hold public institutions like the police, prisons, and councils, to account. [4] Scrapping this law isn’t what most of us signed up for.
People power got us these rights. If we don’t speak up again now, the government could destroy them. So 38 Degrees member Lucy has started a petition to save the Human Rights Act.
Here’s what Lucy says:
“The Act covers everyone living in the UK. The policies have been created for no reason other than to protect us as human beings.
Without it any one of us could be wrongly accused of a crime, the government will be allowed to breach our privacy, and anyone could fall victim to careless decisions made by authorities.”
If you agree that the Human Rights Act should be saved, please sign here:
SIGN THE PETITION
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-our-human-rights?bucket=blast2
Over the past few months, 38 Degrees members fought hard to make our voices heard during the election. We haven’t stopped just because we’ve got a new government. Although there are challenges ahead, 38 Degrees members will always stand up for fairness, equality and justice – and now, there are millions of us. Let’s get going again by standing up to this bulldozer effort to scrap the Human Rights Act.
Thanks for being involved,
Amy, Rebecca, Laura, Nat, Robin and the 38 Degrees team
PS: If something else the government has got planned has caught your eye, you can start a campaign here:
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/
NOTES:
[1] The Guardian: Conservatives to push forward on manifesto and scrap Human Rights Act:
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/10/conservatives-to-push-forward-on-manifesto-and-scrap-human-rights-act
The Independent: Unshackled from Coalition partners, Tories get ready to push radical agenda
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/unshackled-from-coalition-partners-tories-get-ready-to-push-radical-agenda-10237611.html
[2] 24% is the percentage of the electorate who voted Conservative.
The Mirror: Victory? Most people didn’t actually support the Tories – or their harsh new policies:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/usvsth3m/victory-most-people-dont-actually-5667728
[3] Equality and Human Rights Commission: The Human Rights Act:
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/your-rights/human-rights/what-are-human-rights/human-rights-act
[4] Citizens Advice: Who’s breaching your human rights?
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-rights/civil-rights/human-rights/who-s-breaching-your-human-rights/
It’s the PUBLIC sector; will the public have any say on how far the socialist unions can treat the public sector as their own private sinecure, with pay hikes from the public purse?
Up to you to give a lead to your fellow pinkoes, sodomites and feminists by working for nothing, then. Or have I intentionally misunderstood you?
Are Scottish NO voters the equivalent of English Tory voters?
Ref my post re the BUPA quote, I hasten to add I was getting it for research. Never, never ever would I go private.
Click to enlarge the graphic.
http://www.spinwatch.org/index.php/issues/lobbying/item/5759-the-privatising-cabal-at-the-heart-of-our-nhs
and from the same excellent website
http://spinwatch.org/index.php/issues/lobbying/item/5769-nhs-the-foxes-have-control
@ Ba’al Zevul
I have contributed twice: once by stopping a socialist from getting the job; and once by gainful employment of a human being.
I have contributed twice: once by stopping a socialist from getting the job; and once by gainful employment of a human being.
But at what cost to your integrity! Working for a publicly funded organisation! Should you not be employing your entrepreneurial skills in employing Polish workers to tarmac your neighbours’ drives?
@ Ba’al Zevul
I ain’t got no enterostomy skills.
i- There are crazy lunatics.
ii- Then there is Giro man indeed, in an uncontrollable spin.
==================
The attacks on NHS have already began with a darker twist than before. Both the corporate media telly infommercials (news ala sky ceebeebee) had some tosspot doctor who was droning on about the damages of excessive prescription of medicines; blood pressure, pain relief, etc. With a slant on life prolonging medicine are not needed. If you can’t pay the pensions (cuz have handed over the pot to the banksters), then increase the pensionable age to 150. Also as we know the slow septuagenarians are not going to be much use for any deployment by the corporate masters, then kill the bastards before they have got to the pensionable age.
Welcome to the “Land of the free”, and wet dream of Alan Bastard the MP whom wanted to bring back slavery to solve the problems of; housing shortage, inflation, budget deficit, and traffic jams.
Signed Mary & tweeted.
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-our-human-rights?bucket=blast2
Hi Jimmygiro,
Fair doe’s. Wotcha gonna do when the cuts kick in and “they” – government/bosses – tell you take a 30% cut in wages? Happened in Eire. Well Jimmygiro, wotcha gonna do?
Take it on the stiff upper lip?
@ katherine hamilton
Thanks to the socialist controlled public sector:
http://jimmygiro.blogspot.co.uk/2008/04/measuring-real-bias-in-employment.html
I, and many other men, have been taking it on the stiff upper lip for years. We can handle austerity in a way that pampered socialist cannot.
The government has been democratically elected to rule the whole country, unlike the union. If many people didn’t bother to vote they don’t deserve to be counted. Therefore the figure of 23% is irrelevant.
Apart from whether anyone personally supports the government proposal, the union will lose public sympathy if they hinder people getting to work, so I would advise them not to strike too often.
If one participated in an election and/or voted, according to the prescribed rules, consequently legitimizing the process/outcome, what right does one have to whinge?
‘I ain’t got no enterostomy skills’ Maybe not Jimmy Giro but your animus against women is showing. Do you feel threatened by powerful women?
btw let’s hope you never need an enterostomy yourself. Not very pleasant.
This, and the subject of minimum wage should all replaced with a full scale debate on the social contract and the introduction of Basic Income.
@ Mary
Feminism has no democratic mandate to claim to represent women.
Feminism uses women.