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It was a general statement about strikes. Working rights, benefits, a better future... in this particular case it isn't about working rights, but nonetheless it's an important cause.
I disagree. They are actually gaining nothing from it themselves. They do it for others. It doesn't get much more selfless and altruistic than that.
I guess it depends on each person, but I very rarely have something against strikes, even when they have directly inconvenienced me. I get the feeling others succumb to a form of 'nimbyism' though. All supportive of workers being properly looked after, but the support stops if it affects them in any way, even for the briefest period.
Do you really want to be a lawyer when you're grown up, because you seem pretty narrow minded to me. Your statement above is so one sided and you haven't even bothered to justify it .. wonder how well that snappy argument would work in court :chin:
It looks as if they are already well sorted and they have no need to strike for themselves BUT they choose to do something to help protect those that come after them.
This isn't the same as firemen going on strike .. If anyone's house is so cold that they freeze without the heating being on then they must be very rich to keep it constantly running in winter. In which case they can afford to use any one of the thousands of plumbers and gas engineers in the country who work for themselves.
My flat would be pretty chilly without heating on.
You don't need to be "very rich" to use the heating in the winter, and it doesn't need to be on constantly, but a day or so with it off would make it very cold indeed. Depends on what you define as very rich, though.
If they've paid for a service/repair contract with British Gas, they why should they spend extra on someone else?
Firefighters strikes always make me laugh though because they break their own picket if anyone needs them, thereby proving how underused the service is.
It's somewhat like an insurance plan, takes any nasty surprises out of the equation (supposedly). More useful if you have an old shed of a boiler.
Yep, if it's crap, go somewhere else. I've heard nothing good about British Gas support services.
As man of kent said - there is no need for them to strike - the recruitment process will fix these problems. If removing these pension programs creates a big lack of interest in the sector then they will have to do something in order to get the interest back so they have enough qualified workers ... its not these guys place to strike about it, they just want some more days off
Oh right. You get a good deal if it's a small part that takes ages to fix
I'm not sure, I thought it should be parts and labour (maybe there're different levels of service).
I quite like my electric heating, no moving parts apart from the timer.
Is electric heating not monstrously expensive? Or is it those awful storage heaters?
On the other hand, the burner might take the liberty of breaking
I think it is quite expensive, because electricity is anyway. But it's quite efficient as it's per room rather than central heating (and it reacts bloody quickly).
It's not storage heaters (thank God), it's those panel convector heaters that hang on the wall like radiators. The flat's in this new conversion of an old mill, and the buggers haven't put gas in :grump: I wouldn't mind apart from the hob taking about 7 years to respond...argh!
Yup.
And the job of a lawyer is to be one-sided...
Bollocks.
They've decided to take a few days extra off at Christmas.
I don't blame them for wanting a few days holiday to get the shopping in, but lets not pretend its got anything to do with altruism.
What a ridiculous statement.
Houses without heating get cold very quickly. And in a time when few have hearths anymore, for many the central heating is the only way to heat.
And its also the only way to get hot water to have a wash.
Yes, this industrial action only affects British Gas. But people pay a lot of money for protection from British Gas, only to have it thrown back in their face. Yep, everyone should vote with their feet, meaning the greedy GMB will lose their jobs.
Which kind of negates the "Looking out for one another" arguement. Looking our for oneself - on both sides of the argument - is more appropriate.
What "greater good" is at play here?
And I agree with the general principle, hell until recently I had been a union member all my working life.
Doesn't mean that I will support any strike.
See above.
That's fair enough. I guess we'll have to disagree on whether this particular strike is justified or not.
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
If the strike is about something important- such as when the firefighters went on strike to get a fair wage- then I will support it. But I will not support ANY strike, because a lot of strikes are morally repugnant.
This one, like the skiving BA staff in the summer, is morally repugnant.