The pain of the recession has been borne mostly by the PRIVATE sector here in the UK.  The State sector has been largely immunised from the severity that has cost hundreds of thousands people in the productive sector their jobs.  One small sacrifice that HAS been made of the State sector is that they accept a PAY freeze……whilst enjoying their generous salary and pensions.  But now comes this…

Two of the UK’s biggest trade unions have revealed they are planning for co-ordinated strikes unless the government suspends its public sector pay freeze. Unison said it had “no doubt whatsoever” that action would go ahead if the coalition did not change its stance, while the GMB claimed people were “getting sick” of the situation. But TUC leader Brendan Barber said he did not envisage a “general strike”. The government insists pay freezes are vital to cutting the deficit.

Well, I am sick of the militant trade unions. Let them go ahead and strike – who would notice? But furthermore, shouldn’t those who DO decide to strike and refuse to serve the Public be sacked and their jobs offered to those without a job but who would prefer to be of service and DO the job we pay them for?

Lemme guess: trade unions are involved, right?

While searching for something else I came across “The Epoch Times” and its feature called: Global Q&A: ‘What is the most inspiring moment for you in the Olympics?’ In its own words, “The Epoch Times asked people outside Olympic Park in London what the most inspiring moment has been for them thus far.” You might or might not find it interesting, but among those asked was a Dominick Posillipo of Stony Point, New York. Can you spot the interesting fact about him? I might have helped with dash of yellow highlighting.

You’d think he’d been a state employee (oh yeah – whoops!). I hear complaints about outsourcing. When investors see this kind of thing you understand why it happens.

Good old trade unions, they’re always ready to screw someone else, and when Trotskyite headbanger Mark Serwotka is in charge of the union you can be sure alot of victims will be getting some industrial action good and hard:

Daily Telegraph: Border force staff to walk out ahead of Olympics

The union representing thousands of immigration staff is to walk out the day before the Olympics’ opening ceremony, despite securing the support of little more than 10 per cent of its membership [...] Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union will strike next Thursday, Heathrow’s busiest day of the year, with the airport expecting to receive 126,000 passengers, 19,000 more than normal during the summer.

I’ve never really been up for banning trade unions, what with me supporting free association and all that. The corollory is the right to not associate, which I heartily encourage all decent people to do where trade unions are concerned. I’d particularly encourage everyone in productive work to shun and exclude the leader of the PCS wherever he is seen. If he comes into your shop, your business, your cab etc, withdraw your labour.

The UK Trade Unions are getting £36 MILLION  a year from the taxpayer to fund their increasingly hostile and anti-public sevice activites. This is a scandal – ALL such funding must be cut off.

TAXPAYERS are funding the salaries of trade union activists in the civil service to the tune of £36million a year, Whitehall figures showed last night.  At least 6,800 civil servants are being paid from public funds to cover working hours on union duties. Much of their time has been spent fighting the Government’s drive to cut costs at Whitehall. An investigation found 248 civil servants work full-time on union business while being paid from public funds – 100 more than previously thought. Thousands more work part-time on union duties.

So, we are funding people to spend their time forcing us to fund them even more. Great. This is the sort of lunatic thinking that pervades Government and it shows how the Unions REALLY rip us all off.

Many, if not most, of my posts on ATW these days result from a  remark made by a broadcaster, or a snippet taken from one of the newspapers, or online. I was listening to the usual biased ‘cobblers’ which is the Today Programme; the subject under discussion was a feeder for a future series which presumed to label sixty peoplewho were most influential in the sixty years of Her Majesty’s reign. That list may be scanned here; and whilst many of the names are unremarkable, being those people who have, in my own opinion of course, made a great contribution to British Society, there exists a selection of names of people who represent a great deal to the Left, the ultra-Liberal, the ‘Progressive’ political faction which, unfortunately dominates the organisation which supports their twisted views: namely, the BBC.

Some time ago, David posted an obituary for George Ward, he of the Grunwick Photo Labs, and also of the vicious and bitter Grunwick strike which gave many people their first close encounter with the truly nasty and bullying side of our so-called ‘moderate’ Trade Unions. George only wanted to stay in business, make a decent profit, give employment to a great number of people, and run his business his way, on his terms. As history shows, he did just that, fighting off legal and illegal attacks from massed pickets, the massive weight of Governmental intervention, and further Union intervention and actions. The strike eventually faltered and faded, Grunwick resumed full working, and prospered.

But the name which appears in the list of those who have had a significant impact upon the lives of British people during Elizabeth 2nds reign is not that of George, who only wanted to grow his business in a free but fair manner, but one of his opponents, namely Jayaben Desai, one of the strike leaders. Biased? Definitely!

I read that Tanker drivers involved in a dispute with fuel distribution companies have been urged to reject proposals aimed at resolving their differences.

A key group of Unite union leaders – the oil trades conference – have recommended that the 2,000 drivers reject the proposals, negotiated during eight days earlier this month. The drivers, from seven firms, can vote on the proposals until 11 May.

Let us be clear; UNITE want confrontation with the Government. As the main funder of the Labour Party, it is intent to cause as much damage as possible and ensuring motorists fear running out of fuel is as good a weapon as any. The ludicrous “Health and Safety” facade for this strike fools no-one, other than the likes of the BBC, another party seeking to see Labour return to power. I’ve debated this issue on National Radio with Unite representatives and it is perfectly obvious that this is about politics – hard left politics. My own view is that the UK cannot allow 2000 drivers in a militant Left wing Union to hold us to ransom so best break up their monopolistic grip over fuel deliveries. There are PLENTY of unemployed lorry drivers who would delight in the £46,000 a year that some in Unite enjoy.  No one denies workers the right to form trade unions. But no trade union should be allowed to occupy a position that could bring down our democratically elected Government. It’s the ABUSE of trade union power that is the issue and Unite excel in it.

Comrade Bob Crowe, the Union leader with a bust  of Lenin in his office, and of course whose Union is a major backer of the Labour Party, strikes again. Remember him? He was the guy threatening to bring London to a standstill during the Olympic Games and NOW he has a new plan.

“Millions of commuters face fresh misery next week as London Underground workers plan a 72-hour walkout. The strikes, which come a week ahead of the mayoral election, stretch over four days and will involve the people who maintain and upgrade the tracks who are unhappy with negotiations over pensions and benefits. The Rail, Maritime and Transport union, which represents around 1,000 staff on the Tube Lines contracts, said its members will walk out at 4pm on Tuesday until the same time on Friday.”

This sort of tactical strike in support of unaffordable benefits for Union workers can only be sorted out if the RMTU is smashed through breaking up their monopoly position over London Underground.

I have a guest article published over here on the excellent Polish the Podium! Do give it a read if you want a clear insight into the exact relationship between these two men…

Excellent piece of work here by the Daily Mail’s  Andrew Pierce. It concerns Trade Union baron Len McCluskey, he who heads up the Union that has threatened to withdraw transport during the London Olympics and now threatening a country wide petrol strike.

“There is a drawing of Lenin in his office, and books on the shelves lionising Left-wing heroes like Tony Benn and the revolutionary Che Guevara.  They tell you everything you need to know about the union leader now threatening a national strike by tanker drivers that could see petrol stations running dry and school run mothers, small businesses and haulage firms alike scrambling for fuel. But then Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite – one of Britain’s biggest unions with 1.8 million members – revels in his Red Len nickname.”

And then this…

“Miliband has failed to criticise McCluskey: his union, along with several others, are Labour’s paymasters, providing nearly 90 per cent of the party’s funding. It was their support, too, that swept Ed Miliband to victory over his brother David. No wonder the feeble Miliband has form for refusing to challenge union barons. Equally as embarrassing for him, I have learned, is the fact that the Unite official leading the negotiations over the strike is Diana Holland – whose other job is Treasurer of the Labour Party.”

Got that? The Labour Party Treasurer is leading the “negotiations” on behalf of Red Len and Unite were instrumental in handing Ed Miliband the leadership of the Labour Party.

Think Unite, Think Labour, Think STRIKE!

Cabinet Secretary Francis Maude has advice for motorists ahead of the fuel strike: “get it while you can”. He says that not only are there risks to supplies, he has advised drivers to keep a jerry can in the garage as back up.

Yes, that’s just what we need, people rushing out to run the pumps dry. No wonder Sky News today is reporting that some garages are running short of supplies, and Unite hasn’t yet given the one week notice for the strike. Ignore his advice about keeping a jerry can in the garage. I have one anyway in the shed (and I wouldn’t bother to get one otherwise), but you don’t want anything like that within the walls of your home. If you do fill a can, note that fuel degrades quickly so use it within a couple of months.

What with the punitive costs of fuel I’m amazed to still see drivers wasting the stuff, alternately standing on the loud pedal, then the brake, then the loud pedal again. This AA page has tips on how to drive efficiently and minimise use.