A short Facebook note I wrote while en route to a rally in Hull:
I hear a lot of people say that the public sector are lucky and shouldn’t complain while others suffer too, that it’s not fair. They’re right, it’s not fair. It’s not fair that you have poor pay and pensions. We should be fighting to improve your lot too. But this won’t happen if the public sector take a beating – this merely creates a race to the bottom and less likely that your own conditions will improve if your employers can excuse themselves by making comparisons to government employers.
The average public sector pension is something like £6000, not quite gold plated. Many workers already make significant monthly contributions and are now being asked to pay even more, for longer, for a much smaller return. This strike isn’t to ask for more but to protect what they’ve already been promised, which is now at threat from a government who want to make ordinary people pay for the bankers’ folly.
We are not public, private or third sector workers – we are all simply workers. If one group suffers now, we all suffer in the long term. If you fight for your pay and pensions, the public sector will support you however possible. Union law prevents solidarity strikes, a law that helps divide people according to which sector they work in. Don’t let the people who created this mess divide and rule us. We are one. X
