When I woke up this morning, switched on the TV and saw the latest news about today’s strikes, my immediate feeling was “get back to work and stop being a bloody nuisance”. It’s deeply unfair that the kids should have to suffer (although, when I think about it I would have been delighted at the chance of a “special” day off school, so I think we can gloss over that one swiftly). Ok, so the parents then who work and have to take time off – it’s a huge disruption for them (although again, I suspect at least some will be secretly pleased of an opportunity to have a chance day off, or, even better, to work from home).
And then, as I waited for the kettle to boil, I considered exactly why I was so annoyed about it all. Well, because with all these public sector types striking, it was surely going to cause me severe disruptions as I go about my daily business. But after further consideration, I realised that actually, I can’t really see how it is going to DIRECTLY affect me. I don’t have kids, I don’t need to renew my passport, I can’t get any time away from work to visit any Welsh museums and I’m not planning on any trips.
So by the time I arrived at my desk at 8.30am I decided that I was firmly in the “don’t care” camp. I’ve done my best to avoid any coverage of it today in the news, on Twitter or wherever – I tire of news very quickly you see.
And then I read a Daily Mail article (I found myself on their site accidently I might add (my views on that particular “news” paper are nothing if not forthright)). My oh my. In the space of 1000 or so words, I suddenly found myself leaping off that particular fence more quickly than a cat that had just found a splinter in its backside. The hysterical “opinion” got me so irked, I found myself disagreeing with everything it was saying, purely as a matter of contrariness.
But it did get me thinking. If I was told that the terms of my pension were going to change I’d be mightily peed off too. Yes a final salary pension scheme is unsustainable in this day and age, but still, it’s what you were expecting and to have that taken away from you is going to at the very least rub you up the wrong way. And I think that’s why I’ve suddenly become more sympathetic to the cause. I’ve seen many comments this afternoon about how we are all going through tough times (whether in the private or public sector) so we all just have to grin and bear it, tighten our belts etc etc, but actually, a lot of the measures we are “grinning and bearing” at the moment are (no matter how hard they are to swallow) relatively short-term. I say relatively, we could be talking a couple of years or so but ultimately shouldn’t affect our retirement too much. I am of course being very generalist – some people are being hit much harder than others – I guess I’m one of the lucky ones.
And actually, everyone I know (well most of them at least) has loudly voiced their opinion (i.e. moaned) about Government austerity measures or the fact that they’re not getting a pay rise for the second year running, or, heaven forbid, a bonus. I’m as guilty as the next person of this. I don’t mind that we whinge, it’s human nature after all. But that’s my point – we do whinge, so why shouldn’t the teachers, or the passport office, or the jobcentre staff. Ok, so they’re showing their annoyance with their feet and at the picket-lines, but ask yourself, if that was an option to you, would you REALLY not consider it? Honestly? Maybe some of you wouldn’t and personally I find it hard to really answer that without ever having been in that position, but I very much doubt I’d dismiss it out of hand.
I’m still not saying it’s right (I’ve found myself creeping slowly back onto that fence as the afternoon has gone on), but I really do believe there’s more to it than many people realise. Those that have always worked in the private sector (myself included) will probably never fully understand and, if I’m honest, I feel some of my generation’s opinions of unions have been forever tainted by the continuing exploits of a certain Mr Robert Crow (particularly those of us that live and work in and around London).
Although I consider myself a reasonably bright lass, I am worryingly ignorant when it comes to all things political. My views on today’s strikes would likely be denounced by the left, the right and anyone in between. What about all the disruption? What about the effect on the economy? What happens to all those 999 calls that need answering? Yes, all very valid points and probably all valid enough reasons why I should hop back over to the “go back to work you bunch of workshy greedy public sector layabouts” side of the fence. But I was compelled to write this not to make a political stand, nor to say it’s right or it’s wrong, but to put some individual human emotion into what is an extremely politically charged argument.
And I quite like my view from the fence, so if it’s all the same with you, I’d like to spend the afternoon up here.
