Comments by "Acid Joke" (@PWMoze) on "Autoworkers Strike: The Unions' Rising Influence in America || Peter Zeihan" video.

Here in the UK, it seems strikes are no longer confined to blue collar workers. As well as railway workers, nurses, ambulance drivers, teachers, postal workers, care workers etc being forced to strike by below inflation wages, compulsory redundancies, employment terms and conditions being eroded, we now have middle class professionals striking too, such as junior doctors, medical consultants even criminal court barristers.
304
@Newbmann UK teachers eventually voted not to strike because the British educational system, the school buildings, the school budgets etc are already in crisis, with record truancy since lockdown and low achivement across the board. British state schools are in crisis at the moment and subsequently teacher's salaries have been depreseed for about a decade. Somehow the teachers unions were still prepared to accept a below inflation wage rise spread over two years. However, on the bright side, fee paying private schools, like the one attended by Boris Johnson, George Osbourne, David Cameron, Rishi Sunak etc are doing just fine. Funny that?
8
@adtastic1533 Many of the people who are striking in the UK are public servants, paid by the government or local authorities with tax payers' money. Their jobs: nurses, postal workers, ambulance drivers, railway workers, doctors, teachers, lawyers etc etc, can not be out-sourced to places where labour is cheaper. Nor should they be. Plus, in the UK we recently had a Prime Minister (Liz Truss) who favoured reducing workers' rights, lowering wages, deregulation, weakening terms and conditions of labour etc in favour of globalist, supply side, neo liberal, economic theories and she didn't even last two months. Even the UK Treasury thought her measures were dangerous and unworkable. She almost bankrupted the country and made the cost of government borrowing go through the roof. This then caused interest rates to go up meaning even middle class people with mortgages became hopelessly in debt with only negative equity. Cost of living crisis part II. A nation should value and protect its own working people, not undermine them in favour of a labour force on the other side of the world. If the government doesn't see it that way then it falls to the unions to represent their workers, defend their conditions and protect their rights.
5
@dcnative1618 Yes indeed. In the UK, Amazon warehouse workers have fought for the right to unionise themselves and have indeed recently mounted a couple of strikes to protect their wages, working conditions and to create tighter regulation on their employers. And who can blame them?
4
@T1tusCr0w It was not exactly a general strike. Some of these interest groups have now resolved their disputes. The teachers eventually chose not to continue their dispute as it was likely to have a hugely detrimental effect on already suffering pupils. Nurses and ambulance drivers did likewise for the sake of their patients. I believe the baristers (attorneys) have also now accepted an offer as the British law courts are in a backlog crisis. Meanwhile Junior Doctors, Senior Medical Consultants and the railway workers are still finding it impossible to find a settlement. In the case of the railways, it is because management want to close ticket offices, make junior workers redundant and continue to restrain wages. In the case of the doctors it is because the Government want the NHS to fail so that they can justify selling the profitable parts of it off to American Private Healthcare Corporations.
4
@jesinbeverly From what I understand many Ford workers have been on temporary contracts for up to four years now, meaning that their wages have been supressed, their contractual terms and conditions have deliberately been made very poor and their job security is constantly undermined. To my mind they have a very stronng case for industrial action. Ford could easily afford to pay their employees properly and provide them with secure contracts but it chooses not to. I support the workers and the strike if it becomes necessary.
4
@ILikeFreedomYo The UK government is currently trying to force through legislation that would obligate 'key workers' to provide 'minimum service' during any industrial action. No one is exactly sure what 'minimum service' actually means and who the 'key workers' would be but it is clear such legislation would be taking away the right to strike from certain workers. Previously this kind of restriction has only applied to the army and the police etc. This is part of a long history of anti-union laws which go right back to the Margaret Thatcher era. Personally I think that a responsible government should be redressing the reasons why people need to strike, rather than restricting their rights when they do so as a last resort? I could be wrong though, it does seem an idealistic sort of thing to believe and probably not a sentiment shared by many in the US?
3
@SignalCorps1 It is sad if unions are 'a waste of time' in the USA. I'm not sure how it works from state to state in the US, but in the UK, unions provide workers with a means of 'collective bargaining'. That means no individual worker can be punished or intimidated for seeking to protect themselves when in conflict with their employer. They do not only represent you in negotiations on wages but also in disciplinary matters, providing legal advice and legal representation. They can protect your working conditions and working practise as well as consulting with management over contracts and regulation on your behalf. They can even lobby for companies to be sanctioned or regulated by government on behalf of their members. They can provide workers with training and education and even career advancement in some cases. They can provide hardship funds during disputes and can link with other associated unions to provide support and solidarity during prelonged strike action. In the UK they have been traditionally linked to the Parliamentary Labour Party so they can also provide a route to the legislature, effecting policy and shaping the national debate. Some union activists have eventually taken up seats in the government. They have even brought down a government or two! In most Scandinavian countries they are an essential part of industrial, economic and social policy making. Its not just about wages, its about giving you representation, fighting to make sure your work place is safe, to make sure you are treated with dignity and to make sure you are not exploited by your employer. There is strength within a union.
3
@SignalCorps1 Yes, I get the feeling from some of the comments above that unions in the UK and in the US are two entirely different things. Certainly ours don't have these traditional links with organised crime but they do have links to very left wing politics including a traditional sympathy for the USSR era Russians.
3
@ILikeFreedomYo in the UK we don't have a constitution just a complicated set of historic statutes.Education budgets are set by a combination of the Chancellor and the Exchequer. The same applies to healthcare, the police, the army etc etc. These budgets are then paid to local and municipal governments, regional health authorities and regional police authorities, who can then allocate the money as they see fit. Some are better than others at doing this, some have different priorities. All of them have been experiencing lower budgets i(n real terms, when taking into account inflation) probably since 2008. Subsequently many local education authorities have put constraints on education spending for many years, this is reflected in salaries and the working conditions. Similarly in hospitals have had to pay staff less and cut back on repairs and renewals. The police and the army have severely cut their numbers. Public sector workers have had the right to strike and have had it for over 100 years. Obviously they don't feel they should give that right up, so successive governments have restricted what they can do through the law. The general public in this country are split about the degree of freedom unions should have, while public sector workers have some of the strongest and well supported unions in the country. They also have some of the most poorly paid and under valued jobs. With professions like nurses and teachers there is a historic reluctance to strike, with the police and the army it is simply illegal. But also in these occupatiins there is a reluctance to leave the profession (because it is seen as a vocation) and this may explain why they are often so under valued and poorly paid. Meanwhile the government has allowed their terms and condiions to deteriorate for almost a decade, subsequently there are some that want to strike but also many who see they have no choice and are reluctantly leaving the professions. If you want good services provided by competent professionals you have to pay them fairly and value the work they do, otherwise you get very poorly delivered services, industrial disputes and societal disharmony. That is what we are currently experiencing in the UK. The strikes and the urge to strike are a symptom of the maliase, not its cause. The cause is over a decade of austerity, shocks to the economy, Brexit fall out, poor government oversight, ideological conflict, a cost of living crisis and declining standards of living.
3
@DieFlabbergast I put it down to thirteen years of Tory government, Austerity, Brext, Covid, Liz Truss' delivering 'growth' through extreme supply side economics crashing the economy, anti union legislation, cut backs in services, highest taxes since the war, cost of living crisis, health care crisis and finally an absolute liar as a Prime Minister being replaced by a billionaire playboy. Incompetence and deceit. The only way forward is an overhaul of our electoral system, our national institutions, our economy and the type of people we elect to lead us. I know what you are thinking...what a dreamer!
2
@beatonthedonis4726 Agreed.
2
@davidmarkmann6098 We still produce Rolls Royce, Jaguars, Range Rovers, Minis, Mitsibishi cars etc in the UK, but all the companies are now owned by combinations of foreign corporations such as BMW and Tatra. Globalism in action. There are still niche car and motorcycle manufacturers in the UK like Morgan and Triumph but because of automation they employ small numbers of highly skilled workers. They are generally unionised and are very well paid. Most of these car producers are very proftable and their cars sell all over the world. Check out Formula 1 International Grand Prix car racing. Most of the companies that compete in F1 are based in the UK and employ UK engineers and designers. The UK government is currently setting up a massive electric car and battery production factory in co-ooerattion with the Indian company Tatra.
2
@chrimbus71 Yes, how ridiculous is that? The NHS has been one of the most diverse workforces in the world for decades but somehow that's not enough for the old Diversity, Inclusion and Equity hucksters. There are probably still too many middle aged, middle class, hetrosexual, cis-gendered, white men (doctors) who need weeding out. Thankfully, because the money is so bad in the UK, they're all going to Australia anyway!
2
@ILikeFreedomYo The 'constraining principle', in the case of the UK, is central government wanting public sector wages to be depressed and budget allocations declining in real terms over the last thirteen years. Because of this there is a mass exodus of workers from teaching, nursing, doctors, prison workers, senior police officers etc Those who have remained feel they have no other way to bring the public's attention to the way their services are being undermined but by striking. Nurses, junior doctors, ambulance drivers, railway workers, junior barristers are threatening strikes is because cut backs have made their jobs unsafe and almost unworkable. It's not just about wages, it is about their terms of employment and the declining conditions they are being expected to endure in the work place.
1
@CometdownCat Not sure I understand. How does the US citizen subsidise the UK's pharma costs?
1