I know you can't really blame people for simply wanting more money but the arguments they use simply fall flat on their face.
- Increase in Public money - If the government announces in a budget that they are raising taxes to put more money into improving the Public Services (as the Labour Government have recently here in Britain) you immediatly get all number of Trade Union representatives spouting off that the money should go towards their members to improve morale, and therefore improve the service. Now call me cynical, but I don't believe for a second that if a nurse got an extra grand a year in her pay packet then she'd suddenly turn into Wonder Woman and zoom around the wards, it just aint gonna happen. People do their jobs as a matter of routine however much they get paid. What really makes people more productive is improving things like working conditions, management, facilities and tools to do their job. I've had jobs where I've been paid relatively little, but given it my all simply because I like my job and the people around me, then I've had other jobs that have been really well paid for someone my age, and I've just arsed around all day.
- Arguing for Inflation busting pay awards - When I see on the news that a Union has rejected a pay offer because it's only something like 3% above the rate of inflation I just get angry and confused. Don't these Unions have Economists? I only did Economics at A-Level and this argument is just plain stupid. Say you got 20% of the countries workforce working in the public sector and they all get an inflation busting pay rise, all this will do is fuel inflation in the future. More people have more money, they spend this money, demand increases, prices go up, hence inflation. Then they ask for another inflation busting pay rise and it's just a vicious cycle. It's just like saying, oh lets print more money because prices have gone up, anyone remember the hyperinflation in Germany in the 1930's with people carrying around their money in wheelbarrows?
- We can't afford to buy a house near to where we work - This is an argument used by many Unions in the London area. If you didn't know, house prices in the UK in general have absolutely rocketed in the past few years, so getting on the property ladder is pretty damn difficult for most people.
However, (and this is kinda like my last point) giving people more money to buy houses isn't the answer, this will only increase the demand for houses and push prices up even further. The only solution is to increase the supply of houses. So this argument is pointless.
- I should be paid more because I help people - Ermmm I dont thinkso. Newsflash, your pay is not determind by the number of bandages you put on people. You do perform a valuable service but this value is determind by how many other people have the same skills as you, and how much other people need that particular service, as always it's down to demand and supply. If you were the only nurse in the country then you'd be paid a shitload, but that aint so, so get used to it.
- You don't HAVE to do that job - I just don't understand some people. They apply for a job, they are told what it involves and what they'll be paid. Then once they've got the job they go and start moaning that they aren't paid enough, and threaten to go on strike and form picket lines. I mean if you think you aren't being paid enough, go and get another job that pays what you want to earn, simple as that. I mean, I wouldn't become a burger flipper mainly because they earn £3.80 an hour. I wouldn't apply to Burger King, then start complaining that I wasn't on £20,000 a year.
Okay, bit of a rant I know, and yes, I have worked in the Public Sector, for Islington Council, and I QUIT! You know why, I didn't like the job and I didn't like how much I was being paid, so shove that in your pipe and smoke it!