In the UK, we are having one of the largest strikes in decades. The media has been talking about it for weeks. The strikers are from different parts of the workforce. There are border workers, hospital workers, teachers and weather forecasters.
How has it affected me personally? No much at all. When I was out shopping today, it was busier then normal. There are a lot of kids out of school right now, I heard that about 1/2-3/4 of all state schools are out. I don't think that my kids know that, and since their school is a private school we are not affected by the strike and for our teachers, it is a business as usual kind of day. It has affected Super Handsome more as some of his co-workers have had to take a personal day if their kids are not in school.
The workers are striking in protest at measures that the government is taking to shore up its debt. The government is pushing back the retirement age to 67 starting in 2026, and the workers are also being required to contribute more money into the pension fund and receive less. Their current wages have been frozen for 2 years and now pay raises will be 1% until 2014. The government made these decisions because the UK economy did not grow at the 2.5% that was predicted, instead it only grew 0.07%.
The strike really seems to just a way for the workers to make a point that they are unhappy about the cuts. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future between the government and the labor leaders. The labor leaders in the 80's battled with Margaret Thatcher and it being wondered if it will happen again. The UK has a large debt load and is second in the world to the US. The government is trying to make good, yet unpopular decisions to shore up their problems and stabilize their economy. Which is really a good thing, especially with things in Europe looking so bleak right now and two major governments are asking for bailouts again. There are now talks that the fiasco with Greece and Italy may set the world economy back into recession and affect other nations like France. Spain is projected to have problems again as well.
I think that the next year will be interesting.....
How has it affected me personally? No much at all. When I was out shopping today, it was busier then normal. There are a lot of kids out of school right now, I heard that about 1/2-3/4 of all state schools are out. I don't think that my kids know that, and since their school is a private school we are not affected by the strike and for our teachers, it is a business as usual kind of day. It has affected Super Handsome more as some of his co-workers have had to take a personal day if their kids are not in school.
The workers are striking in protest at measures that the government is taking to shore up its debt. The government is pushing back the retirement age to 67 starting in 2026, and the workers are also being required to contribute more money into the pension fund and receive less. Their current wages have been frozen for 2 years and now pay raises will be 1% until 2014. The government made these decisions because the UK economy did not grow at the 2.5% that was predicted, instead it only grew 0.07%.
The strike really seems to just a way for the workers to make a point that they are unhappy about the cuts. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future between the government and the labor leaders. The labor leaders in the 80's battled with Margaret Thatcher and it being wondered if it will happen again. The UK has a large debt load and is second in the world to the US. The government is trying to make good, yet unpopular decisions to shore up their problems and stabilize their economy. Which is really a good thing, especially with things in Europe looking so bleak right now and two major governments are asking for bailouts again. There are now talks that the fiasco with Greece and Italy may set the world economy back into recession and affect other nations like France. Spain is projected to have problems again as well.
I think that the next year will be interesting.....
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