‘Strikes are all we have’: UK workers united in a winter of discontent 

My daughter was one of those nurses, working in makeshift wards, looking for body bags (her hospital ran out of them). Nevertheless - she earns more money than I have ever earned and I live comfortably. And she's not yet 30 years old and buying a property in London. Don't let your emotions overwhelm the reality.

There's a high chance that they wouldn't have supported it, considering that most of the healthcare sector aren't taking part in the strikes because they're smart enough to know that *NOW* of all times, isn't the right time to strike cause the economy is on life support, and increased spending is the last thing anyone needs, plus they already make a considerable amount of money.

All my friends work in these sectors and not 1 support the strikes

​@@SamPashmi that's actually, exactly why me and my friends don't support the strikes

@@ajons190 yeah, so everyone should be dragged down to your level? Bet you love Boris and vote Tory! Btw, their strike is about ALL NHS workers……….

And also did not expect a decade of pay cuts . No one goes into a job expecting that.

But it's true to a degree. Nurses have always been whining about pay since the 80s

@@adamant5419 whining? I hope you announce your opinion whenever you meet a nurse or need them.

Is the pay rubbish ? Just out of interest how much does a nurse get paid - if you even know ?

@williamf4544 starting at around £24,000 and rising to about £35,000 on average. The average nurse is doing at least 1 days worth of work unpaid in missed breaks, unpaid overtime etc. Hospitals are opening food banks to help support nurses. Most nurses are doing 12 hour shifts, working a rotation of multiple days on with a break the multiple nights. Is this information helpful to you? You can Google it also, but I hope that I have been fairly clear.

They control by usa

Can you answer in more detail?

@@CybillWilsondo try and keep up, try educating yourself a little, may be stop watching mainstream news, and observe events around you and use a bit of critical thinking....start with that.

@@tigading2177 nor everyone is from the country of incident. And the demonstration happen with not context in their socmed

@@tigading2177 No. Cybill is right. OP posted some BS fluff that made no sense.

Get into the private sector, 12 hour shifts are the norm in many places and much tougher work too..

try to explain that to some hedge fund manager or a politician they aboslutely dont give a damn about normal people, but hey once the scales tip over and hell brakes loose i guess they will have to start to listen

@@christianmungo2342 AND...AGAIN!!! You're on a "TROLL ROLL" ain't ya matey?! 🧐🤔 Only joined in December 22 and all you're doing is worthless commenting on valid posts! 🤣 I'd LOVE to meet you for a coffee mate, see how much of a gobshite you are when face-to-face, instead of hiding behind your new fake profile anonymity!?!? Come on down to Bournemouth mate, let's grab a cuppa by the coast and you can tell me ALL ABOUT your valid opinion!?

It really bugs me that all this focus is going on the public sector. I work 16 hours!

@@paradisebreeze1705 join a union

Also if everyone is paid less, they spend less. Higher pay also helps support small businesses.

@@johnthepotato6632 The economy trickles up not down. Give these people their pay rises & they'll spend it, give money to the rich & you'll ever see it again.

The government takes to much money from private that why independent & franchise struggle

The employeer started the business with Capital , the left party wants to make it harder for middle clss to build wealth

@@riffraff9506 absolutely spot on 👌

What about minimum wageprivate sector carers, why should they pay extra tax to fund these?

Minimum wage*

Because they corrupted the process to deliberately foil the gains you would have otherwise had. It's not Brexit that's to blame, it's the leaders handling the Brexit...blame them.

How can you say that. Borris said we save 350million pounds per week on EU membership. We have alot money where can pay the nurses. This is what I heard.

@@ramrajah5460 Then why hasn’t he done it?

@@kaiserslavaniaashur1623 I'm pretty sure Ram was being sarcastic.

@@GuusJanssen He definitely was. Leaving the EU has been a disaster that has caused an economic catastrophe even worse than Turkey's earthquake. And we have no excuse - we did it to ourselves and don't deserve to be rescued.by anybody. Because we had EVERYTHING - even favourable conditions that no other EU country had (opting out of the Social Chapter, for example) ... But simple chimpanzee racism won a popular vote that was never supposed to succeed - and we left the best free trade zone that the world has ever known We suck, and deserve EVERYTHING we've got. Even those of us that voted against leaving. We just didn't try hard enough - and are now, literally, paying an extreme price.for our cowardice and inaction.

Bad policies can be reversed. Don't lose hope. Keep fighting.

@Kathya Never give up. Encourage greater representation and voting and bring in people who will bring the changes. 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿

They need kicking out.

i agree that 100 p sent rong this is just mad

The Tories will be hisTory....vote these useless PM and bums OUT

@Don Doodat it wasn't long ago that Britain was doing the invading, colonising and partitioning of other countries.

These fuckers have just given themselves a 5% pay rise. (Their pay is set by an "independent body" that THEY set up) They are not worth a 5% pay rise. No way. Nuh-uh!

🙄 clueless…

@@christianmungo2342 please expand...? WHAT EXACTLY is so "clueless"?!? Or are you just a fucking TROLL who hasn't got anything better to do, other than leave one word replies with an emoji that have NO bearing or benefit WHATSOEVER? 🧐🤔 Hmm...or MAYBE you're one of the "1%" (top 20% are all culpable) who doesn't want to have their "assets & commodities" put at risk?!? 🤫🤭 Either have a valid fucking opinion or go stick your head up your bosses ass so you can keep that lovely, shiny brown nose in tip top condition! If you CANNOT give me a valid response, stating key facts & statistics to support your argument - and, NO; mainstream media regurgitation doesn't qualify! And I MEAN you actually have to HAVE an OPINION (not just repetition of what some other cunt has written) here...and I WANT TO HEAR IT??? If not, FUCK OFF!!! 🖕🏼

Idiot

@@christianmungo2342 you okay you dirty troll?

No working class, it's working poor.

Change the government but nothing will change

They killed my mum. What about the carers, they got no ethics.

@Yvonne Wiggins I hope you and your son's continue to improve. @Paradise Breeze my condolences I hope you are able to find comfort

Cut GPs pay as they are vastly overpaid!

GP's are useless - but the NHS is awesome! Last year, I had a simple finger infection - as the pus began to build up after a couple of days, I rang up my GP surgery ... my assigned GP, who I've not seen in years, was fully booked and unavailable .. in mid-week, I finally got to see a GP inbetween appointments ... she prescribed antibiotics. Things got worse, but I was thinking "just give the antibiotics a chance - this is supposed to happen" Then, after seeing no improvement - and loads of Google searching [the only thing that came up was a medical journal about "how to perform an amputation on a septic finger" - eek!] I rang up my GP surgery again, but on a Friday when there's nobody there - just zoom calls with a random doctor. [thankyou Conservative Party] The substitute doctor told me to send photos of my finger - which I did. She calmly suggested that "you might consider visiting A&E at NHS Addenbrooke's today ..." I did as she said, and joined the waiting room - I charged up my tablet; a dodgy finger was never going to compete with all of the axe wounds and heart attacks ... it would be at least 8 hours, surely ... Within 90 minutes, the incredible young woman in charge pulled me aside in front of the whole room .. and stared me in the eye "YOU are getting surgery today!" [".. fuck!"] Then her second-in-command escorted me a quarter of a mile to "PSU" - which I learned meant "Plastic Surgery Unit" as I was walking down the corridor I wasn't scared - "this is happening, you'll deal with it. You'll just have to learn to be left-handed" Then, I met the surgeon who would be performing the operation - he drew arrows on my right arm, that suggested that my whole arm was going to be amputated! Before making some smaller markings on my finger "... and here is where we'll make the incision ..." The questionable sense-of-humour continued after I was wheeled into the operating theatre (they stripped me down, Covid tested me [I was "green"], and wheeled me on a hospital bed for a dodgy finger!) A Scottish anaethetist explained the ground rules - I had never been "put under" before. He explained that my IV drip must be cleansed before the operation could proceed, and then he would ask me some questions... Within seconds I tried to answer his first question - and went out like a light!, the canny bastard! - he had already injected me!:) When I came to, in the "recovery room" - a nurse gave me as many cups of lemon juice that I wanted - then I was wheeled to the ward where I would spend the night under observation. The night nurses were wonderful. Every ward had only 4 patients in it (each with a state-of-the-art adjustable hospital bed, including a pull-down TV), and 2 nurses attending. The beautiful Spanish lady night nurse that attended me was sassy! - continuing the good humour - she explained that she needed to inject me with some anti-blood clotting drugs .. she had two knitting needles in her hand - and she stabbed my belly without warning, and laughed! I said "ouch!" (like James Bond) and winked back at her! ;) Then - the surgeon visited me in the morning to see the results of his operation. He removed the plastercast on my finger: "Yes - I think that's come out rather well!" And then I went home. But we're not done yet - no way! I had two aftercare appointments at NHS Addenbrookes, each one week apart - the sequel. On the second one, I showed up early - and announced my nam ... "Come with me please ..." A male version of Mary Poppins whooshed past! I followed him ... I was assessed by a brilliant male nurse and out of the hospital before my official appointment time! Overall - my experience of the NHS last year was wonderful, (except for the first line of defense - the non-existent GPs) I know it's not going to be the same for everybody. But what I do know is that ALL nurses should be on no less than £100 000 per year, Because they are worth WAY more than a Tory politician voting to put themself on £88 000 per year, WAY more! I walked out of NHS Addenbrookes without spending a single penny, despite being cared for by dozens of lovely people. It was an incredible experience I will never ever forget. I fully support ALL striking healthcare workers. My less-than-24-hours stay at NHS Addenbrookes has shown me, first-hand, what I always knew to be true ... the NHS is indeed a gift, a national treasure that must be never lost or sold off. It has also shown me, first hand, that the Tories need to go - they should NEVER be a political force in this country ever again. They are the very definition of "awful" - and must go before they enrich themselves futher on the damage they cause.

Make sure to tell your clients how to vote for your benefit, small favor after saving they life

@@disklamer unfortunately that's not the nature of our job bud, we have to support unwise decisions if people have capacity. But yeah you'd think right?

@@Munchie2011 It may be time to start colouring outside the lines a little. Everybody else does it.

@@disklamer I understand what you are saying, we can advise and inform but just because everyone else does it doesn't make it right. It's unethical.

Thank you for your integrity. I look after my 87 year old Dad by myself without any help from anyone. He knows he’s lucky that I’m prepared to do it. But the elderly who live alone and no family support rely on you and your colleagues. You’re literally their lifeline. In my opinion, carers should be first in line for pay rises more than anyone. It’s a very tough job that not many people are prepared to do, and you deserve much more recognition.

The market is volatile at this time, hence i will suggest you get yourself a financial-advisor that can provide you with entry and exit points on the shares/ETF you focus on

True, the idea of a portfolio-coach used to sound generic, but a new study by investopedia actually found that demand for portfolio-coaches sky-rocketed by over 41.8% since the pandemic and based on firsthand encounters, I can say for certain their skillsets are topnotch, I've raised over $700k from an initially stagnant reserve of $150K all within 14months.

@@adenmall7596 who is this individual guiding you? I lost over $9000 just last week, so I’m in dire need of a financial-planner.

Thanks for the contributions, I just skimmed through ELEANOR ANNETTE ECKHAUS webpage, interesting stuff, wrote her an email.

And not be paid pittances

My longest workday was 27 hours, my coworker was 36 hours. We never stopped moving. Ever heard of a pipeliner, oil field worker, military personnel, welder, farmer, construction work, commercial fisherman, etc.?

@@scottowensbyable are you boasting about being over worked?

@@scottowensbyable The slave has fallen in love with the system that exploits him.

@@alexmir8942 lmfao

Sadly, all tenants are treated with no respect nowdays. Once they are sick, unable to work and left with litlle money, they get nice "card" saying - leave

Yes I'm sure a years of not paying rent is the right way to solve it

The Tories will be hisTory....vote these useless PM and bums OUT

Correct Dave. It's the system that the neoliberals have put in place. Privatise, outsourcing. Remove public sector jobs, bring in private jobs. Profit first, workers and conditions secondary.

Dave I agree but the UK have also the despicable disgraceful disgusting greedy inhuman tories

You mean to yourself if you have a pension

It's supposed to be a capitalist country that's the process. Are you really calling for socialism ? Your pension contributions get invested in the big companies and they generate income for you and allow you to retire!! Show some appreciation

@@chrisj9700 I don't give a flying fuck. Boo hoo, i guess workers have to die because there's someone sick. You don't really care about patients, just breaking balls.

@@chrisj9700 so wait until there's a cure for cancer eh? MUPPET.

You have nothing to lose but your chains LOL! What happened is that they lost one chain...and got ten more in it's place. Because their leaders were even more corrupt than the leaders they wanted to overthrow. You can't eliminate human wickedness.

Thanks for admitting this is really about militant extreme ideology: nothing to do with pay and conditions.

@@markanthony3275 Go off yourself, bourgeois slave

I mean, good on you but the writing has been on the wall these whole 13 years so what took so long?

@left_blank I was gonna say. And now wear the sign “I VOTED FOR THIS SHITE”

Let me guess. You were doing fine so sod everyone else. You voted Tory for the tax cuts and Brexit to get rid of the forigners. Now the struggle has reached you and suddenly it is support the workers. How did I do?

The state of this country is the compilation of poor governance for well over 50 years, over multiple governments and parties. Our current system doesnt require any party to stick to their manifesto or have their pay judged on the performance on executing their manifesto. We need change of system as change of party hasn't historically fixed anything, just patched it.

I was also an active T.U rep for decades, but now am a pensioner, struggling with bills along with everyone else, and I vehemently opposed Brexit, so you really didn't do so well.

yes, a crisis governments facilitated on behalf of their Capitalist bosses

But britain is broke and printing money. If they increase the wages then inflation will spike to 20%

Socialism is the only answer. Find the podcast or RU-vid channel: *Teach Me Communism*

@@lococomrade3488 it’s not even bout capitalism or socialism. The government still plan stuff even in ‘capitalism’ or ‘socialism’. It’s about rich and poor. Workers are getting a worse deal more and more.

I's a media-driven crisis, not a real one. Just like the fuel shortages of a couple of years ago - all driven by the media.

What and a labour government would do any better bar put us in the mess like they did last time no thanks

@@leemccccccc999bankers put us in a mess, Labour did not cause the global financial crash. Anyone would be waves better than the tories who have decimated everything intentionally to fill their pockets and corrupt the system

@@lexm17 true it was the bankers but why did we struggle more than any other country in the eu. And you do remember starmer wanted longer lockdowns honestly I’d hate to think the mess we would be in if this was labour time and time again they prove when they gain power they can’t handle it and they plunge this country into the worst kind of recessions

What about private sector? What about us?

They aren’t though, they’re standing up for public sector workers and asking for wage increases which will ultimately become the burden of those of us on poor wages in the private sector, via tax rises and threshold lowering. Public sector jobs and pay are cushy by comparison.

@Maria Maria And you're gonna blame the workers for the actions of the Rich? All workers are being exploited, no matter the sector. We Working Class have to unite and stop the burdens that are fictitiously created by the Rich. Socialism is the only answer.

Maria, there are greater forces at play here. When the system becames so corrupt, that some of the most caring people in society - such as nurses and teachers and paramedics - go on strike. You know how horrendous this system has become. You cannot deny a person their self-respect. Work is supposed to give you self-respect. When you're working and can't afford to survive - then you're technically worse than a slave (at least a slave has free rent and extremely bad food). Have you ever considered why "public sector jobs are cushy in comparison"? Because they stood up for themselves! You should too, if you can. If your wages are too low, given the terrible situation the super-rich gamblers have put us in, then don't blame similar people to yourself. Choose the REAL enemy. Otherwise you're playing into their greedy hands.

@@jazzx251 caring?! I’ve working in education and housing, both public services. Teachers in particular are some of the most narcissistic and entitled bullies you will ever come across, always complaining, always wanting more while doing less. Nurses as well are essentially the mean girls from school who grew up and got jobs.

@@jazzx251 If our wages are too low in the private sector, we don’t have union protections and can’t strike. We can be let go, and then we will have no wages at all. It’s horrid but striking is already a luxury. Also consider the fact that private sector companies in particular will protect those at the top, and anyone in the higher salary bands of a company will not be willing to strike to improve conditions or pay for those lower down. There isn’t much hope for lower paid private sector workers unfortunately.

I totally agree with that But as always Nurses play on their "caring angel's reputation" Many working people are struggling to pay their mortgages, feed their families & pay their bill's not just nurses, but just as with the COVID food shortages the nurses thanks to the media have hijacked this cause as well. I hope the government stand firm & don't give in to the striker's & more importantly the unions who are controlling the whole thing, Mick Miller is no different from Arthur Scargill back in his day, they are both using the worker's to further their own political agendas... Let's hope the government have a "secret Maggie Thatcher type" hiding in the background, she did the seemingly impossible & broke the miner's strike & look where that got them.. let's hope our poorly paid & overworked retail worker's, delivery driver's, & all those whose lives touch ours everyday don't decide to follow suit & down tool's for a few extra ££ in their pockets each week, we would truly be stuffed if that were to happen

NO .. we don’t all support this madness ..

@@christianmungo2342 HERE I AM...AGAIN!!! You're on a "TROLL ROLL" ain't ya matey?! 🧐🤔 Only joined in December 22 and all you're doing is worthless commenting on valid posts! 🤣 I'd LOVE to meet you for a coffee mate, see how much of a gobshite you are when face-to-face, instead of hiding behind your new fake profile anonymity!?!? Come on down to Bournemouth mate, let's grab a cuppa by the coast and you can tell me ALL ABOUT your valid opinion!?

I wouldn’t mind donning a balaclava & raiding the Sunak estate with a bunch of attractive nurses

Who’s paying for it? Me the tax payer minimum wage worker? Where’s my increase?

23 months to go. Remember to vote, and get everyone you know to vote. Once the party is over for the Tories, we need to exile them for DECADES as punishment.

@left_blank wow !!! Watch video first....they are teachers and nurses...these are educated working classes...not businessmen, landowners and Oligarch...

@left_blank how can you live beyond your means when rental prices are the highest in Europe whilst wages have stagnated? Not to mention the ever increasing cost of electricity, gas and food. We have the highest living costs in Europe and some of the lowest wages.

@@alexanstey1742 Oligarch, come and buy many houses to make rental money for generations... They have house in name of wife, husband and each children...basically they exploit system...in there home countries and in other countries. Instead of starting industries ...they take away jobs by degrees from foreign countries ... So, they take away jobs..as in other countries you can have degrees by money !!!

@left_blank if you don't live in the UK and more importantly don't know much about it then it is not your place to comment. Real humans would know that all workers should have a wage and pay their bills comfortably and stress free.

Public sector workers get guaranteed employment, gold-plated pensions, above average paid holidays, paid sick leave, paid study leave, extended maternity/paternity leave (paid of course), medical insurance, death in service insurance and other benefits. All funded by the tax payer. To strike over wages PLUS all these benefits is ridiculous.

They filled UK streets when Jim Callaghan was at the wheel, it brought in Thatcherism

I’m not in anyway defending the Tory party as I hate them with all my being, but weren’t the mass strikes of the 1970’s while labour was in power?

From all I've seen, that England died along with punk rock. Now you have people who willingly cede their responsibilities to the gov't in exchange for the dole.

Continuing a proud Tory tradition.

What a fuckin comrade. ❤️

We'll do both, thank you very much. There's no reason except greed that we can't both support our people AND help to break the back of a facist, genocidal terrorist state.

hard disagree, global cooperation is essential to our way forward. economies are becoming more global everyday, there's no going back now unless we want to suffer in isolation like with brexit.

germany and France has its own protest now. poverty rate in germany is just as high

❤️ from America.

@@lococomrade3488 ❤from the UK, btw I love your username.

❤ from British Columbia, Canada. Workers of the world must unite.

Thank you from the U.K.! 🇬🇧