Why council employees striking over cutbacks won't make a scrap of difference

Posted by Gary Wright | 22 July 2010

I wasn't shocked to learn that the union activists at local councils are threatening strike action to show their anger as the cuts in public spending become clear.

After years of retiring at 60 and being assured of a job for life, all at the ratepayers' expense (yes I know it's ‘council tax payers' but we all understand ratepayers), suddenly our council chums have to account for how they are spending our cash.

So, batten down the hatches and prepare for them to demonstrate their outrage outside your town hall next year.

What are they protesting about exactly?

Well, in a nutshell they're a bit cross that those people who have worked in the private sector all of our working lives will no longer be relied upon to fork out getting on for a couple of grand a month for the privilege of having their bins emptied every couple of weeks.

Planning applications have fallen dramatically since the credit squeeze so I expect borough and district planning departments to be shedding jobs by the dozen. No point striking that's not going to make more people build extensions.

Finance departments might think they're pretty safe as careful management of what little cash they have will be a vital skill.

Remember how KCC managed to ‘invest' £50 million of our money in an Icelandic bank. Then they lost in the crash because someone was on holiday and missed a warning email... or something. (Still no real news on that, county councillors, fancy giving us all an update?).

I reckon any one of the charity treasurers in Kent could do a better job. They are people who know how to make a little go a long way.

And visits abroad. We have a bit of a record of that in Kent, for sending large (and I mean large) parties abroad at ratepayers' expense on ‘fact finding' or ‘friendship' visits. From now on if someone wants to be our friend, let them come and see us. And they can pay for their hotel too.

Then pensions. It must be pretty galling to have worked your way up in the public sector for 35 hours every week (less holidays and your eight days sick a year, oh and  public holidays). From section minion to section leader and then maybe even the head honcho, you were secure in the knowledge that you'd retire at 60.

You've been pretty smug that for 20-odd years after that there'd be a monthly cash windfall pretty close to what you were earning (and there's no commuting costs or smart suits and ties to buy from M&S).

Now you can't just rely on Johnny Ratepayer to stump up enough cash to pay for his bins to be emptied so that you and your fellow cotton heads can have free money.

Outrageous though that might be, perhaps you understand how your bin emptying former colleagues felt nearly 20 years ago when they had to go and work for private sub contractors.

The simple fact is we can't go on like this. Strike all you like but we are all staring down the barrel of tough times.

Remember as well that unless your strikes affect bin collections, most people probably won't notice, and if you do withhold your labour, in protest, then we have the right to withhold our council tax payment.

But be assured the outcome will be the same.

Posted by mark | 23/07/2010 00:49:53

your comment wont make a scrape of difference either zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Posted by Voter Beware | 23/07/2010 18:41:04

Gary Wright knows how to stir up the sediment of state sector resentment against whoever dares to point out inconvenient facts. We ratepayers have been hit hard for no good purpose. Council tax is a life sentence and poor value, when one quarter council tax goes into their pensions. If councils were fit for purpose they would not be profit-chasing corporate-copiers. They would not be resistant, rigid and unresponsive to human need for suitable adequate public services. Why must public funding go towards profits?  For 50 years councils have caused immeasurable damage to local areas and to individuals who found them negligent. Council antics brought financial hardship, misery and worry for those forced to fund unproductive, overpaid state-protected multi-headed bonus chasers. If they don't understand or don't care that they are costing us the earth, then they must be made to care that they have failed to do their duty - to serve us faithfully and well without ripping us off.

Rita Grootendorst, campaigner for affordable living