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Union Officials - Pay Cuts?

  • 19-11-2009 11:53am
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 463 ✭✭


    As my wife prepares to go on strike tomorrow, taking a days wages from her massive salary of 26,500 (which she spent 5 years in college to get), i was wondering....will Peter McLoone/Jack O'Connor/ David Begg etc also be taking a days pay cut....or is that just for the workers who "do what they are told" ??


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Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,236 ✭✭✭Dannyboy83


    Liam79 wrote: »
    As my wife prepares to go on strike tomorrow, taking a days wages from her massive salary of 26,500 (which she spent 5 years in college to get), i was wondering....will Peter McLoone/Jack O'Connor/ David Begg etc also be taking a days pay cut....or is that just for the workers who "do what they are told" ??

    That's pathetic to be honest.
    There is no way that people on 26,5k should be taking a 7.5% cut in their pay.

    It should be the fat cat teachers & consultants who can afford to pay, not the clerical officers and temps.

    What area does your wife work in?


    p.s. No, Union leaders will not take a cut.

    The grunts take the bullets, while the Admirals drink tea.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,458 ✭✭✭OMD


    Dannyboy83 wrote: »
    That's pathetic to be honest.
    There is no way that people on 26,5k should be taking a 7.5% cut in their pay.

    It should be the fat cat teachers & consultants who can afford to pay, not the clerical officers and temps.

    What area does your wife work in?


    p.s. No, Union leaders will not take a cut.

    The grunts take the bullets, while the Admirals drink tea.

    Who says she is going to be taking a 7.5% pay cut?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 463 ✭✭Liam79


    Dannyboy83 wrote: »
    That's pathetic to be honest.
    There is no way that people on 26,5k should be taking a 7.5% cut in their pay.

    It should be the fat cat teachers & consultants who can afford to pay, not the clerical officers and temps.

    What area does your wife work in?


    p.s. No, Union leaders will not take a cut.

    The grunts take the bullets, while the Admirals drink tea.


    Grade 3 Library Assistant.....but sure she is a public servant..she must be on HUUGGEEEE money :rolleyes:
    For Begg and McLoone to basically ORDER people to a second days strike......when they dont lose a penny!! And even tho she voted no...she is being forced to picket or face "union sanctions" !!!

    bastards :mad:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,967 ✭✭✭✭Zulu


    Being forced? :confused:

    Surly she could decide to:
    a) cross the picket
    b) not attend the strike
    c) take a days leave

    Couldn't she?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 463 ✭✭Liam79


    Zulu wrote: »
    Being forced? :confused:

    Surly she could decide to:
    a) cross the picket
    b) not attend the strike
    c) take a days leave

    Couldn't she?


    Cross the picket.....are you having a laugh...have you ANY idea what that would do?? Cop on!!
    Not attend the strike, to be honest i'd say thats what she will do, even if they are threatened with internal union action. What can they do like!
    Take a days leave...no...... they receoved memos no one will be paid that day, be you on leave or not. So even if u had leave booked for that day 12 months ago, u still wont be paid for that day, and even non union members are not being paid unless they cross the picket and no sick leave will be paid unless certified


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,967 ✭✭✭✭Zulu


    Liam79 wrote: »
    Cross the picket.....are you having a laugh...have you ANY idea what that would do?? Cop on!!
    No I don't. What would that do?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,458 ✭✭✭OMD


    Zulu wrote: »
    No I don't. What would that do?

    I think in fairness Zulu everyone knows how difficult it is to cross a picket whether you agree with it or not. I believe the un ions are very wrong to vote for a strike but all workers really have to accept the view of the majority.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,531 ✭✭✭Taxipete29


    Liam79 wrote: »
    As my wife prepares to go on strike tomorrow, taking a days wages from her massive salary of 26,500 (which she spent 5 years in college to get), i was wondering....will Peter McLoone/Jack O'Connor/ David Begg etc also be taking a days pay cut....or is that just for the workers who "do what they are told" ??

    Workers voted for strike action just remember that. No point blaming the officials when its the people who work along side your wife who have authorised this.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,864 ✭✭✭✭average_runner


    These strikes are the most stupid thing i heard, striking without knowing what the cut is.

    Thats like paying for a car before you even know what kind of car it is.


    What the goverment should do is the following:

    All staff in the public sector wages should match the same as the private industry, this will have to be done by an average of course.

    Promotions in public sector should not happen because your there x number of years but happen on how good you are in the job.

    Extra day of service for been there x number of years should be scrapped.

    If you work a sat out of normal hours you should not get over time but instead the day off, and this has to be justified that its not down to your own incapabalities of not getting job done in time.

    Pension should be done away with and the same system the private sector has should be in the public sector.

    If your job required you to work weekends most times you should not get double time, people in hotels dont, its part of the job, dont like it, quit.

    If clerical staff work beyond hours during the week, you shouldnt get over time as it doesnt happen in the public sector, often work late but its out of my own pride to get the job done.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,376 ✭✭✭ei.sdraob


    Dannyboy83 wrote: »
    That's pathetic to be honest.
    There is no way that people on 26,5k should be taking a 7.5% cut in their pay.

    It should be the fat cat teachers & consultants who can afford to pay, not the clerical officers and temps.

    What area does your wife work in?


    p.s. No, Union leaders will not take a cut.

    The grunts take the bullets, while the Admirals drink tea.

    dont the fat cats have their own "fat cat" union?


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭seclachi


    Liam79 wrote: »
    As my wife prepares to go on strike tomorrow, taking a days wages from her massive salary of 26,500 (which she spent 5 years in college to get), i was wondering....will Peter McLoone/Jack O'Connor/ David Begg etc also be taking a days pay cut....or is that just for the workers who "do what they are told" ??

    Never mind a days pay cut, they should be out on there ear for the ruin that they will eventually bring on the PS and the country itself.

    And yes, taking 7% off somebody on such a low salary is a joke, I guess the upperband people making the calls feel is fair to "share" the pain.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 463 ✭✭Liam79


    These strikes are the most stupid thing i heard, striking without knowing what the cut is.

    Thats like paying for a car before you even know what kind of car it is.


    What the goverment should do is the following:

    All staff in the public sector wages should match the same as the private industry, this will have to be done by an average of course.

    Promotions in public sector should not happen because your there x number of years but happen on how good you are in the job.

    Extra day of service for been there x number of years should be scrapped.

    If you work a sat out of normal hours you should not get over time but instead the day off, and this has to be justified that its not down to your own incapabalities of not getting job done in time.

    Pension should be done away with and the same system the private sector has should be in the public sector.

    If your job required you to work weekends most times you should not get double time, people in hotels dont, its part of the job, dont like it, quit.

    If clerical staff work beyond hours during the week, you shouldnt get over time as it doesnt happen in the public sector, often work late but its out of my own pride to get the job done.

    So you want my wifes wages to be brought up to the average private sector wage is it ??
    Great!! She would only love it! Would be a SERIOUS pay rise for her!!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭seclachi


    Liam79 wrote: »
    So you want my wifes wages to be brought up to the average private sector wage is it ??
    Great!! She would only love it! Would be a SERIOUS pay rise for her!!

    Well she can always set out to try and find a job in the private sector in that case.....


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,967 ✭✭✭✭Zulu


    Zulu wrote: »
    No I don't. What would that do?
    No answer Liam, no?
    OMD wrote: »
    I think in fairness Zulu everyone knows how difficult it is to cross a picket whether you agree with it or not. I believe the un ions are very wrong to vote for a strike but all workers really have to accept the view of the majority.
    If it's something you don't agree with, something so utterly wrong? I don't buy it. I certainly wouldn't let any majority force me into doing something I believed was utterly wrong.

    That said - perhaps she doesn't think it's wrong.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 463 ✭✭Liam79


    Zulu wrote: »
    No answer Liam, no?

    If it's something you don't agree with, something so utterly wrong? I don't buy it. I certainly wouldn't let any majority force me into doing something I believed was utterly wrong.

    That said - perhaps she doesn't think it's wrong.

    Very easy for you to say isnt it
    :rolleyes:
    she has to work with those people for the resst of her life! U really need to come out of the fog if you want to have a genuine debate. Because anyone who advocates passing a picket of their fellow workers....wouldnt want to go to battle with cowards like you on my side


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,458 ✭✭✭OMD


    Zulu wrote: »
    ?

    If it's something you don't agree with, something so utterly wrong? I don't buy it. I certainly wouldn't let any majority force me into doing something I believed was utterly wrong.
    .

    The point of Unions is you have to go with the collective decision. As I said I disagree with it but I have no problem with union members who voted no still going on strike.

    If the unions had voted against strike action I would want action taken against any union member who went against the collective desision and still went on strike.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,531 ✭✭✭Taxipete29


    Zulu wrote: »
    No answer Liam, no?

    If it's something you don't agree with, something so utterly wrong? I don't buy it. I certainly wouldn't let any majority force me into doing something I believed was utterly wrong.

    That said - perhaps she doesn't think it's wrong.

    You have obviously never tried to cross a picket. You have to remember that people who strike have the courage of their convictions to stand up and say what is happening is wrong. They are taking on the employer and any employee who crosses a picket weakens their position. To say people get upset is putting it mildly. It doesnt matter that you dont agree with them or wish to support them. Crossing pickets is one of the worst things you can do.
    You can be blacklisted by unions and people can refuse to work with you. It happens and as the union members are usually in the majority, guess who gets pushed out.

    Now I am not saying that I agree with the upcoming strikes( i dont) but you have to respect the rite to strike. I dont agree with unions bullying people who cross pickets, but it happens. These are just the facts of the situation.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,967 ✭✭✭✭Zulu


    Liam79 wrote: »
    Very easy for you to say isnt it
    :rolleyes:
    she has to work with those people for the resst of her life! U really need to come out of the fog if you want to have a genuine debate. Because anyone who advocates passing a picket of their fellow workers....wouldnt want to go to battle with cowards like you on my side
    I'm no coward & I don't appricate the personal dig. I've crossed pickets before. I've no problem standing up for what I believe.

    Cowards are people who do the opposite; cowards are poeple who are afraid to stand up for their convictions.

    So Liam, I provided 3 options. You only answered one. So she has two options - don't attend the strike, or cross the picket.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,967 ✭✭✭✭Zulu


    OMD wrote: »
    I have no problem with union members who voted no still going on strike.
    For the record, neither do I.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,050 ✭✭✭✭murphaph


    seclachi wrote: »
    Never mind a days pay cut, they should be out on there ear for the ruin that they will eventually bring on the PS and the country itself.

    And yes, taking 7% off somebody on such a low salary is a joke, I guess the upperband people making the calls feel is fair to "share" the pain.
    Why is it a joke? If it's more than our competitor countries are paying for such a position then it's no joke.

    We all seem to forget how quickly all our salaries shot up in Ireland for no increase in productivity. I started full time work in 1998 on exactly £12,000 as a new qualified engineer with a US multinational. It seemed like good money at the time and it was. It was one of the main reasons we received inward investment-low cost of labour. The private sector is now rapidly adjusting through pay cuts and redundancies, often with he complete closure of the firm. My 1998 starting salary would be below our minimum wage today, even though I was delighted with it!

    We totally lost the run of ourselves and there's simply no getting around it. Ireland did not deliver good value for money for the increased pay over the last 10 years and now we have stark decisions to make. Either blindly march on and hope foreign companies don't leave (silly) or face up to the fact and reduce pay. The public sector pay bill must be tackled too. Those who bought property recently will feel it the worst but there is nothing we can do.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 463 ✭✭Liam79


    Zulu wrote: »
    I'm no coward & I don't appricate the personal dig. I've crossed pickets before. I've no problem standing up for what I believe.

    Cowards are people who do the opposite; cowards are poeple who are afraid to stand up for their convictions.

    So Liam, I provided 3 options. You only answered one. So she has two options - don't attend the strike, or cross the picket.


    I straight up 100% do not believe you. And if I am wrong, and you have crossed pickets of your colleagues and think that makes you "morally strong" then I have even less respect for you than I already had.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,967 ✭✭✭✭Zulu


    Liam79 wrote: »
    I straight up 100% do not believe you.
    Of course you don't - it doesn't suit your argument.
    I however, as a private sector worker, have never been a member of a union. And I've crossed pickets.
    And if I am wrong, and you have crossed pickets of your colleagues and think that makes you "morally strong" then I have even less respect for you than I already had.
    For one, noone mentioned morals. Secondly, I said that "cowards are poeple who are afraid to stand up for their convictions" & "I'm not a coward".

    Do you have difficulty understanding my posts?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 369 ✭✭Rujib1


    Dannyboy83 wrote: »
    That's pathetic to be honest.
    There is no way that people on 26,5k should be taking a 7.5% cut in their pay

    Sick of hearing of these lowish headline salary numbers for public service employees.
    1. €26.5k is not low by a lot of private sector salaries. Try working in facory floors, fast food places, hotels, resturaunts, pubs, shops, department stores, agriculture, cleaning, talk centres etc,etc, That's over half the country.

    2. €26.5k is basic plus all those benefits, allowances, pension entitlements, secure job, etc, etc.

    Shut up or get a real job in the private sector trenches.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭seclachi


    murphaph wrote: »
    Why is it a joke? If it's more than our competitor countries are paying for such a position then it's no joke.

    We all seem to forget how quickly all our salaries shot up in Ireland for no increase in productivity. I started full time work in 1998 on exactly £12,000 as a new qualified engineer with a US multinational. It seemed like good money at the time and it was. It was one of the main reasons we received inward investment-low cost of labour. The private sector is now rapidly adjusting through pay cuts and redundancies, often with he complete closure of the firm. My 1998 starting salary would be below our minimum wage today, even though I was delighted with it!

    We totally lost the run of ourselves and there's simply no getting around it. Ireland did not deliver good value for money for the increased pay over the last 10 years and now we have stark decisions to make. Either blindly march on and hope foreign companies don't leave (silly) or face up to the fact and reduce pay. The public sector pay bill must be tackled too. Those who bought property recently will feel it the worst but there is nothing we can do.

    Fair enough, but after 11 years there is going to be a fair increase from inflation in any country. 26.5k is not much given the qualification I have heard.

    My point is, there are plenty more people in the PS who are getting paid far more for less, Im sure I read about how anpost just send redundant managers to an empty office to work and paid them the same crazy salary. How does that make sense ? If all that BS is sorted and the payroll is still too high, only then I would advocate pay cuts for people on less than 30k.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 19,986 ✭✭✭✭mikemac


    OP, your wife is in the union so she follows the instructions that she and her fellow members (I can't say comrades :D) voted for.
    Officials only proposed a strike, the members voted for it
    If the ballot voted not to strike you wouldn't expect to see your teammates out on unofficial strikes.

    If she does cross the picket she'll be expelled from the union.
    If she doesn't want anything to do with the union then resign now


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,967 ✭✭✭✭Zulu


    Thanks for answering my question mikemac.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 463 ✭✭Liam79


    mikemac wrote: »
    OP, your wife is in the union so she follows the instructions that she and her fellow members (I can't say comrades :D) voted for.
    Officials only proposed a strike, the members voted for it
    If the ballot voted not to strike you wouldn't expect to see your teammates out on unofficial strikes.

    If she does cross the picket she'll be expelled from the union.
    If she doesn't want anything to do with the union then resign now

    And cross her workmates picket is it Mike?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 19,986 ✭✭✭✭mikemac


    No matter what she voted for her fellow members wanted this strike and now they have it.
    As long she is a union member I think she should respect the decision.

    If she wants to leave the union that's her choice. And she can decide what to do next time but not on the 24th as she was balloted for that.
    And then will be a next time in the next few months I'd say!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,127 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    Look I think the PS is a disgrace, but I do not want to see people on less than 30k a year take a cut, the cuts should come from the biggest pisstakers / waster in there and they are not the ones who are earning 25 - 30k!


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,445 ✭✭✭Absurdum


    If your job required you to work weekends most times you should not get double time, people in hotels dont, its part of the job, dont like it, quit.

    I can't speak for all public sector but I get 27% shift allowance for working a 24 hour/7 day roster. In previous private sector jobs, I was on 36% and 33%.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,050 ✭✭✭✭murphaph


    seclachi wrote: »
    Fair enough, but after 11 years there is going to be a fair increase from inflation in any country. 26.5k is not much given the qualification I have heard.
    To be honest, getting paid extra just because you have a qualification is silly, unless that qualification means you can actually do something that someone else can't.
    seclachi wrote: »
    My point is, there are plenty more people in the PS who are getting paid far more for less
    Most probably. These individuals need to be found out but we haven't got the time or the resources to perform a root and branch review of who does what in our bloated public service. That will have to wait until we have at least stabilised the economy.
    seclachi wrote: »
    Im sure I read about how anpost just send redundant managers to an empty office to work and paid them the same crazy salary. How does that make sense ?
    It doesn't of course. If it's true it's just more example of the lunacy that goes on in the public and semi state sector (like the admitted Iarnrod Eireann thief being given his job back!)
    seclachi wrote: »
    If all that BS is sorted and the payroll is still too high, only then I would advocate pay cuts for people on less than 30k.
    See above-all that BS takes time to sort. Time we don't have, but it should be sorted as a matter of urgency. This recession, at least, has thrown the spotlight on all this waste to a degree never before seen.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,127 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    I was listening to the radio earlier and some politician or trade union leader was appalled at the Governments blaze attitude towards the PS stirke, I think their reaction is spot on! what do they want us to do, curl up into a little ball and quiver with fear! i couldnt care less about their strike, or their grievances! It wont affect me one bit! I really hope they have the spine to tackle the PS this time!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,644 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    Zulu wrote: »
    I've no problem standing up for what I believe.

    Did you cross them while being a member of the union who is striking? It's very different to crossing it as a non-unionised worker or as a worker from a non-striking union.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 583 ✭✭✭danman


    I've crossed picket lines in the past, and I would again.

    The Brickies Union in Dublin constantly put picket lines outside various sites.
    I always believed that they were vastly overpaid to begin with, to do a job that my 3 yearold can now do with Lego, so I, and many others, took pleasure in crossing their picket lines.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭seclachi


    murphaph wrote: »
    To be honest, getting paid extra just because you have a qualification is silly, unless that qualification means you can actually do something that someone else can't.


    Most probably. These individuals need to be found out but we haven't got the time or the resources to perform a root and branch review of who does what in our bloated public service. That will have to wait until we have at least stabilised the economy.


    It doesn't of course. If it's true it's just more example of the lunacy that goes on in the public and semi state sector (like the admitted Iarnrod Eireann thief being given his job back!)


    See above-all that BS takes time to sort. Time we don't have, but it should be sorted as a matter of urgency. This recession, at least, has thrown the spotlight on all this waste to a degree never before seen.

    Valid points, but I dont see the worth in hacking and slashing sub 30k earners wages. Taking 7% off a 30k worker as example(2100); The government would have to cut 50 workers pays to make up for one unless manager earning 100k. (Well maybe closer to 30 after tax).

    I just dont get the whole job for life thing, job security is nice, but it ties there hands when it comes to cutting out the rot.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭seclachi


    danman wrote: »
    I've crossed picket lines in the past, and I would again.

    The Brickies Union in Dublin constantly put picket lines outside various sites.
    I always believed that they were vastly overpaid to begin with, to do a job that my 3 yearold can now do with Lego, so I, and many others, took pleasure in crossing their picket lines.

    Are you a fellow brickie though ? Its one thing to cross the picket if you dont work with them everyday, and another if you will be. I know though with the recent electrical union strike people with absolutely no relation to them were afraid to cross the picket at my place of business.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 583 ✭✭✭danman


    Liam79 wrote: »
    Very easy for you to say isnt it
    :rolleyes:
    she has to work with those people for the resst of her life! U really need to come out of the fog............

    See, that is the type of statement the enrages those of us in the private sector.

    A job for life.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,084 ✭✭✭✭Stark


    murphaph wrote: »
    To be honest, getting paid extra just because you have a qualification is silly, unless that qualification means you can actually do something that someone else can't.

    I remember working a part-time job for my university while I was in college and postgraduate students would get paid more than undergraduates for IT work even though half of them were studying subjects like English and the undergraduates would be studying computer science and the like. Very annoying, especially if you were doing tech support callouts (more skilled) and they were simply supervising labs.
    Liam79 wrote:
    As my wife prepares to go on strike tomorrow, taking a days wages from her massive salary of 26,500 (which she spent 5 years in college to get)

    Is she full-time?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 583 ✭✭✭danman


    seclachi wrote: »
    Are you a fellow brickie though ? Its one thing to cross the picket if you dont work with them everyday, and another if you will be. I know though with the recent electrical union strike people with absolutely no relation to them were afraid to cross the picket at my place of business.

    Why?
    What sort of dark macabre voodoo could the Union perform on fellow workers.

    And yes, I did work alongside them everyday. I had no problem crossing their pickets because they were always looking for more money or to close their shop even more.

    This is the main reason that Architects and design teams now design buildings with much less brick and blocks as in the past. Other methods are used, precast, concrete and metal stud.

    One precast company started to make cladding panels that looked like a brick wall. A labourer placed bricks into a mould and concrete was poured over them. The union picketed the factory, saying that a brickey should be placing the bricks into the mould at a rate per brick. The company laughed them out and the workers crossed the picket everyday.

    The Brickey Union priced themselves out of a lot of work in Dublin. They created a closed shop. They decided who worked for each company and at what cost. No one from outside the Pale was allowed to work on a site as a brickey.

    The public sector unions should have a look at the brickey union and how their fellow workers felt about them. There is a correlation between the two.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,644 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    Liam79 wrote: »
    As my wife prepares to go on strike tomorrow, taking a days wages from her massive salary of 26,500 (which she spent 5 years in college to get), i was wondering....will Peter McLoone/Jack O'Connor/ David Begg etc also be taking a days pay cut....or is that just for the workers who "do what they are told" ??

    Yeah but you have to account for her wage increasing automatically. In the private sector a similar worker may start on more but their salary is essentially fixed unless they move up in terms of responsibility and duties. In the public sector you might keep the same role and responsibilities for your career but your salary will increase dramatically over your career because of you going up points in the salary scale.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 463 ✭✭Liam79


    Stark wrote: »
    I remember working a part-time job for my university while I was in college and postgraduate students would get paid more than undergraduates for IT work even though half of them were studying subjects like English and the undergraduates would be studying computer science and the like. Very annoying, especially if you were doing tech support callouts (more skilled) and they were simply supervising labs.
    Is she full-time?

    Yes, full time Grade 3 Library Asst


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,430 ✭✭✭Sizzler


    Liam79 wrote: »
    As my wife prepares to go on strike tomorrow, taking a days wages from her massive salary of 26,500 (which she spent 5 years in college to get), i was wondering....will Peter McLoone/Jack O'Connor/ David Begg etc also be taking a days pay cut....or is that just for the workers who "do what they are told" ??
    Check my sig Liam, I think you might like it :)

    Listen, those guys you have mentioned above (God I can't bring myself to type their names again :D), they are milking the union system dry. They have no clue what the likes of your wife have to go through to earn a crust, they earn 125K+ in 2 of the above 3 cases, how could they possibly relate to any public sector worker earning 25-30K a year :confused: How any union member can have respect for these people is beyond me. They are only good for mouthing off in the mass media on an almost daily basis. If the unions disbanded tomorrow these guys wouldnt get a job selling hot dogs on Grafton St on a saturday night at closing time!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭seclachi


    danman wrote: »
    Why?
    What sort of dark macabre voodoo could the Union perform on fellow workers.

    And yes, I did work alongside them everyday. I had no problem crossing their pickets because they were always looking for more money or to close their shop even more.

    This is the main reason that Architects and design teams now design buildings with much less brick and blocks as in the past. Other methods are used, precast, concrete and metal stud.

    One precast company started to make cladding panels that looked like a brick wall. A labourer placed bricks into a mould and concrete was poured over them. The union picketed the factory, saying that a brickey should be placing the bricks into the mould at a rate per brick. The company laughed them out and the workers crossed the picket everyday.

    The Brickey Union priced themselves out of a lot of work in Dublin. They created a closed shop. They decided who worked for each company and at what cost. No one from outside the Pale was allowed to work on a site as a brickey.

    The public sector unions should have a look at the brickey union and how their fellow workers felt about them. There is a correlation between the two.

    I can imagine on some building sites there are people who set about making your life very uncomfortable for crossing a picket. It depends though on if they felt the strike was deserved or not.

    I share your sentiment though, I dont have any union covering my back, I have to stand on my own two feet and if for any reason Im deemed unworthy I would be out the gap in 2 minutes. Not like some of the japes I have heard unions pulling over the years of getting grossly incompetent people back AND compensated for there trouble.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 583 ✭✭✭danman


    seclachi wrote: »
    I can imagine on some building sites there are people who set about making your life very uncomfortable for crossing a picket. It depends though on if they felt the strike was deserved or not.

    They were only one of a lot of trades on a site. They wouldn't dare try to intimidate any of the other trades. No one on any of the sites I worked supported their strikes.

    I've tried to remember their name, I think it's BATU.

    Don't get me wrong, I've always believed in Unions, even though I've never joined one. None of the unions cover my perticular trade.
    I've always had to negotiate my own wages.

    But the way that the unions are playing the poor man is really getting on my wick.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,987 ✭✭✭Trampas


    Are the unions going to pay their members on Tuesday who are striking?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,531 ✭✭✭Taxipete29


    Trampas wrote: »
    Are the unions going to pay their members on Tuesday who are striking?

    Strike pay is usually reserved for long drawn out disputes as opposed to single days of action. The unions will seek to get that money paid to the workers in any negotiations they enter into. I would guess that if they get nothing else from the Govt, they will get this.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 40,354 Mod ✭✭✭✭Gumbo


    nesf wrote: »
    Yeah but you have to account for her wage increasing automatically. In the private sector a similar worker may start on more but their salary is essentially fixed unless they move up in terms of responsibility and duties. In the public sector you might keep the same role and responsibilities for your career but your salary will increase dramatically over your career because of you going up points in the salary scale.

    i wouldnt say dramatic increases to the normal worker.....im classed as a professional in my PS job and if i last the 13 years it will take me to get to the highest scale available i will be 10k better off.

    when i worked in the private sector i went from 32k to 42k in one yearly review!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,166 ✭✭✭✭Zzippy


    Rujib1 wrote: »
    Sick of hearing of these lowish headline salary numbers for public service employees.
    1. €26.5k is not low by a lot of private sector salaries. Try working in facory floors, fast food places, hotels, resturaunts, pubs, shops, department stores, agriculture, cleaning, talk centres etc,etc, That's over half the country.

    In the private sector, jobs that require 5 years college/university are also better paid than all of those minimum wage, no qualifications required type jobs that you quoted. Are you saying she should be on minimum wage? Maybe you want all public servants on minimum wage? :rolleyes:

    Rujib1 wrote: »
    Shut up or get a real job in the private sector trenches.

    How bout you shut up? Another one falling into the private vs public sh1te, the government has your leg well pulled.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,183 ✭✭✭dvpower


    kceire wrote: »
    i wouldnt say dramatic increases to the normal worker.....im classed as a professional in my PS job and if i last the 13 years it will take me to get to the highest scale available i will be 10k better off.

    when i worked in the private sector i went from 32k to 42k in one yearly review!

    That's the thing in the private sector; your salary can dramatically rise in the good times and dramatically fall (sometimes to zero) in the bad times.

    In the public service this doesn't tend to happen; its a steady upward trajectory except in exceptional circumstances, like now, where a modest correction may be made.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 64 ✭✭wantolose


    im cracking up, i work in the pubic sector, as does a few of my family , my husband included, my husband and i both work in the hospital, we didnt vote for this strike, and neither did alot of other peope that we work with vote for it, we will be down 2 days wages one of which is night duty, plus pay a babysitter, and we are not high earners in the public sector, we are on the bottom of the pecking order.

    I just wish people would cop themselves on...there is no bloody money in the country, what is wrong with these clowns at the top of the unions??:mad: ps i dont give a dam what people think about me not voting for strike, because there are loads of people that didnt vote for it, but they are ****ting their pants to say it , incase they are bullied yes bullied by their fellow workers!:mad:


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