Would you strike?

[greenjack]

Unless you are an eccentric millionaire who’s just working as a caretaker for fun you will, like most of the working classes, seen your income fall in real terms. So. Would you strike now if asked?

[Gazza]

tough question to ask here given the sensitive nature of striking, I dont see how effective a strike in our industry would be the CO's will all still be working and i dare say able to cope/bumble along (albeit not easily). unlike if the teachers strike, our schools would not shut down for a caretaker going on strike

[Nigel]

No I wouldn't, if both site staff went on strike no one has keys or alarm codes to open

[Nail]

No I wouldn't, if both site staff went on strike no one has keys or alarm codes to open

I'm not saying I agree or disagree with striking but isn't that kindof the point of a strike - to cause disruption. If no one noticed that you were gone, what would be the point?

[TheTakerofCare]

I also think, in phrasing the question, we are all going to get balloted. Unison, Unite, Unity and Community will ballot soon, so it's all of us. Teachers, Ta etc etc. Anybody in any union.

Been here before, massive yes votes from low turn out, people feign every excuse to go in or come in early, later or WFH.

Ballot us all, see the headline figures, then decide, we all go and it will be a strange experience.

Ballot us all, We all vote yes, then always do the, " oh today" then we will get destroyed.

Soon you will have no choice, fight or flight coming up, my money is on flight.

But i would walk out now, if everyone had the guts to do the same, the last resort i know, but sometimes you just have to do the right thing. carry on if you want, i know i will if nothing changes. But just don't whine about it, if you are not prepared to do anything about it.

Working class Tories, says it all sometimes.

[AndyCornwall]

For me it would depend how I was being affected, or likely to be.

In principle I would strike, it's enshrined in law, the issue would have to be important.

[Vera]

As has been mentioned, I'm not sure how effective a strike by caretakers would be on our own the best way to get something done by striking is if we could persuade teaching unions to support our cause. (yeah far fetched i know).

Also as caretakers we work a lot on goodwill and striking could damage that goodwill in the eyes of the heads and CO's which would be less beneficial in the long run.

I specifically joined a union that does not strike because that is my choice.

Yes. My financial wellbeing is being damaged by the inflation rate and other cost increases.

Yes I have thought about other ways to earn a living.

[twiglets]

I think you could reword the question "what would cause you to strike?" Having read a few bits on the railway strike it isn't just about pay, on the other hand, they get some good perks they don't want to lose. We have them pushing for say 10%, doctors want 30%, barristers probably want 10% plus, bin operatives just got a rise locally, teachers will want at least 10% so us easily replaceable support staff are destined for 1% if we are lucky.
All the time the papers are controlled by the government, we will get biased reports about how unfair strikers are. The bottom line is the rich need to pay more to get us out the mess of two years of covid- instead they are making more money from it. Prices are going up 25% in shops on many items so they can recoup some of their loses when we all stayed at home.

For me, I'm not in a union, never have been, and might only join one if we are switching to academy as they most likely will strip me of my responsibilities and take my pay down- for some this might not be the right reason to join, but the union the factory staff had before this job gave the members nothing and the place still closed.

[Dexter]

YES!!

Teachers claim that their pay has fallen over 20% in real terms, since 2010, and our pay has risen fractionally less than theirs. The government has told councils to prepare for a 2-3% rise for 2022 (whilst inflation is over 9%.) The situation is not sustainable. Recruitment and retention are already an issue. We have a problem with some private sector cleaning jobs paying above caretaker grades. We also have some pay points falling off pay structures because they have been overtaken by the Living Wage and sometimes the Minimum Wage.

The problem is that since 2010 the public sector pay award, or total lack of it (Pay freeze) has been used as a political tool. If there is an unexpected cost to the economy the first thing that they announce is a freeze on public sector pay. This shouldn't be done year on year without redress or you get the issues we are encountering and will continue to.

I'm retiring in 4 years but think that enough is enough. I will strike even if I do not recoup my lost pay form the strike days. We are not being considered and continue to get an annual kicking.

[thecaretaker]

Problem is, any pay increases needs to be kept under inflation otherwise it just pushes inflation up even further.

I'm retired now, I'd like a bigger pension but I have no option to strike.