Public sector freeze.

[bgmnts]

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/uk-news/chancellor-rishi-sunak-plans-freeze-18965489

Will this affect anyone here?

Again, the idea that 'something has to give' when there are billionaires swanning around and mega corporations not even paying taxes is still ludicrous.

[Fambo Number Mive]

A "bold bid"? The Birmingham Mail can do one, it's not "bold" to take money from ordinary people. If Sunak called for the abolition of Trident, cancelled the Birmingham to London part of HS2 and raised taxes on the wealthy like in New Jersey I'd call him bold.

This won't affect me at the moment but it will affect people I am very close to.

[bgmnts]

It was either birmingham mail or the mirror/sun/mail etc. Sorry.

[Pranet]

Most benefits were frozen from 2016-2020. Freezing them again would seem an unbelievably shitty thing to do so it will definitely happen.

[Blumf]

Every Thursday evening:



For the NHS

[Puce Moment]

Again, the idea that 'something has to give' when there are billionaires swanning around and mega corporations not even paying taxes is still ludicrous.

There is no way Starmer would ever let that happen. No way.

[Shit Good Nose]

I must have missed all those inflation linked pay rises cos the last one of those I had was in April 2010. 

[Fambo Number Mive]

It was either birmingham mail or the mirror/sun/mail etc. Sorry.

Sorry, I wasn't having a go at you, didn't mean it to come across that way. There's nothing wrong with linking to the Birmingham Mail, I'm just annoyed at how the media are trying to soften us up for another round of austerity. "Sanjeeta Bains can do one" might have been a better way of putting it, although she might not have chosen to phrase it that way.

Apologies for being an arse.

[bgmnts]

No no I agree, for some reason only shitty tabloids were talking about this.

[Johnny Yesno]

I must have missed all those inflation linked pay rises cos the last one of those I had was in April 2010.

Yeah, that's some extremely shoddy journalism from the Birmingham Mail, there. On average, public sector workers have had a 5% pay cut in real terms since May 2010: https://fullfact.org/economy/governments-pay-rise-public-sector-workers-real-terms-pay-cut/

[SpiderChrist]

No no I agree, for some reason only shitty tabloids were talking about this.

Probably because, at this point, it's just conjecture.

Doesn't mean it won't definitely happen, though.

[Shit Good Nose]

It definitely will happen because the tories absolutely hate the public sector and have done since are Maggie. 

[idunnosomename]

Every Thursday evening:



For the NHS

elephant impression for the NHS

[SpiderChrist]

It definitely will happen because the tories absolutely hate the public sector and have done since are Maggie.

Yeah I know. Kill me now. Please.

[Shit Good Nose]

I see The Mirror's version of this story is very balanced and not at all one sided...

[badaids]

This will affect my family and many of my friends.

Got to remember too that there was a pay freeze from like 2010 to 2018 too...

But now the election is out the way they can do it without fear.

[Shit Good Nose]

Yeah, that's some extremely shoddy journalism from the Birmingham Mail, there. On average, public sector workers have had a 5% pay cut in real terms since May 2010: https://fullfact.org/economy/governments-pay-rise-public-sector-workers-real-terms-pay-cut/

Those figures are from 2018, so it's now more like 6-7% for civil service, NHS, teachers and emergency services, and 8-9% for local authorities and other regional services.

This year was the first "proper" pay rise the public sector has had for a decade, but that's literally only because inflation is so fucking low at the moment.

[Zetetic]

I don't about any other part of the public sector, but worth noting that pension costs are continuing to increase for the NHSs, with English NHS employers likely to start shouldering this from April 2021 onwards.

The upshot being that staff costs continue to increase even as pay remains massively depressed.

[Shit Good Nose]

I don't about any other part of the public sector, but worth noting that pension costs are continuing to increase for the NHSs, with English NHS employers likely to start shouldering this from April 2021 onwards.

Across the board - local authority pensions changed in 17/18.

Broadly because social care costs now account for about 85p+ in every pound of the public purse.

[bgmnts]

4.5 million unemployed now. I feel slightly less like embarrassing dolescum.

[Johnny Yesno]

The Unison salary loss calculator gives some quite astonishing results. I could dream about a lottery win but just getting what I'm owed in salary would make a huge difference to my life.

[Johnny Yesno]

There's also an ONS calculator that's not specific to any particular area of employment here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/areyourwageskeepingupwithinflation/2017-06-20

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

Oh we did that here back in the last recession. Twelve years later, despite advancing to the end of the payscale for my position, my take-home pay is still less than what it was pre-austerity measures. My hourly wage was also effectively cut via the ingenious mechanism of requiring additional working hours per week for no additional pay. This was the best deal our union could manage.

Enjoy!

[Puce Moment]

With salaries and benefits being frozen, mass unemployment, further austerity and the imminent double recession of covid/brexit, aren't house sales going to plummet? I would like to see house prices fall through the floor and I say that as someone with an eye-watering mortgage as I only got on the ladder in my mid-40s.

Also, isn't it about time we started building guillotines for Landlords and people with property portfolios? I know we have many enemies to choose from, but they are an immediate threat to the well-being of a substantial amount of UK society?

Yes, some of my friends on Facebook have unfriended me recently. I didn't know so many of them were landlords / parents are landlords.

[DrGreggles]

I worked in local government 2007-2012.
Pay rises: 0

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

With salaries and benefits being frozen, mass unemployment, further austerity and the imminent double recession of covid/brexit, aren't house sales going to plummet?

Vultures and speculators will buy them all up. Oh and don't think you're going to be paying any less in mortgage payments or property tax either.

[Sebastian Cobb]

If there's a pay freeze, does that mean you can fuck off your 'PDP' and objectives for that year? You fucking should imo.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

If there's a pay freeze, does that mean you can fuck off your 'PDP' and objectives for that year? You fucking should imo.

I'm already at the point where I do my work very well but not one iota more. Why should I? I've had no opportunity for promotion for over a decade and neither of my managers care that I'm still doing the same job for less (take-home) pay than when I started. This is how you get people in the public sector who are just running out the clock till they retire. They define "their job" as narrowly as they can and they don't extend themselves beyond that, because there's no incentive and no reward for going above and beyond the call of duty. Worse still, taking on extra work even one time means it becomes part of your job forever.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I've always worked like that because I'm lazy and can spot a bullshit hr process quite well. It's actually annoying when you get an idiot who thinks these things aren't bollocks because they make you write your objectives before you've achieved them.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Is everyone ready to be blacklisted as 'biowaste'? Exciting times.