Pay Rise?
What is this pay rise you speak of? I’ve heard of these things but for those of us who work in small businesses the idea of any kind of pay rise even 3% would be kind of nice.
Ah well. Back to the grind stone.

The other point being of course is that a union member could be on benefits in the near future. Think long term, not just today’s pay packet.

Erm, should the unions be concerned particularly with the rate of benefits? It kind of is outside the core purpose of unions by definition.

So this will be unions as a political movement, not as unions for workers (there is a clear difference – which may be put thus, does Richard deal with cases for workers who have disputes or merely political campainging…). Not necessarily a bad thing, but maybe worth being clear about.

Incidentally, I doubt there would be much political capital in campaigning to get public-sector workers (I know there are unions in the private sector, but this is a much more fragmented arena for negotitation) wages tied to pensions, as it would probably alienate more than you attract, so this is hardly a surprising conclusion, if at least politically smart.

Sadly forcing children into poverty is not as risky as forcing pensioneres into poverty. The pensioners have votes and they tend to use them.

@1

I’m sorry your business isn’t very successful.

I hope you’re not implying that, as you didn’t get a pay rise, no one else should get one either, as that would be a horrible, mean-spirited attitude unworthy of a civilised human being.

I’m far from convinced that the plan wasn’t always to freeze them anyway.

And fair? No, it’s about freezing again. People literally freezing through the winter with the heating off. The welfare net in this country was threadbare as it was…now it’s patently inadequate.

“Many union members are getting pay increases of less than three per cent.”

Yes they are… three per cent less than three per cent.

Fair? Is it fair to freeze pay rises for union members. No, it is not. Is it fair to slash benefits rises for people without work. No, it is not. One unfairness does not justify another. It’s about time we took back the word “fair” from the Right and insisted on fairness for everyone. Which would mean slashing bankers’ pay and forcing the financial gangsters to pay tax.

Trade Union members were offered a 10% wage reduction and the offer to suck my fat cock 3 years ago and yet they licked the cheese clean off Brown & Balls. I’m fine about pensioners been swept about in massive economic and political times that they had no way of knowing how it’d end up. But any twat under 50 who voted Labour only have themselves to blame and i’m all out of tears. Utter, utter horseshit.

@9 – And anyone who voted Tory should be blamed for these pension cuts, yes. Politics is personal, and your name fits you very well, asshat.

The government’s concern for fairness is very touching indeed.
Perhaps I could sum it up for them:

“We have kicked those in work in the teeth and so, as a matter of fairness, we need to do the same to those on benefits”