ESB, strike threats yet again

Just heard it on the wireless. The ESB unions are threatening to hold the country to ransom yet again. This time we are looking at a strike around the Christmas period.
I am sick to the teeth of having to put up with this nonsense.
You and I don't have a choice. We have to buy a basic neccessity whithout which our modern lives are not possible of a state owned monopoly which in itself I could accept if the prices were kept within reason. Which they really have not over recent years. Now the government decide to open up the market to make it more competitive. Fair enough, should have been done years ago but now we are forced by the EU to open up the market.
Of course our boys in the ESB are fearing that they actually have to get the finger out and actually start being productive. Too cosy for too long. Their pension plan is about to collapse because the pensions they are being paid are way to generous as the ones compared to the private sector. Unfortunately the same holds true for all public sector employees and don't even get me started on the TDs. BTW, all of us are paying for that.
And now that the ESB is about to be broken up its employees are having a fit that their company shares which I can see no reason why they got them in the first place, the ESB being a state owned company, could potentially could lose some of their value.
None of them will lose their job or take a pay cut. They can't be fired, ergo they should also forfeit their right to strike. This is common practise in most countries.

End of rant. Anybody selling a cheap power generator?

Everyone has a right to strike wether their means are warranted
or not.In the end it is up th their respective unions to decide
wether they are or not.
I would love to go through your post Holger put I am rushing for a meeting.I too am a public sector worker and I would fight
an nail if I knew my job security and the future of my family
were are at stake.
Even though it is hard for us to take, especially at this time of year,It might be justified. I don`t know the facts behind
the reason for striking and what you hear on the tv/radio is usually company bull shit designed to sway public favour away from the workers fighting for their rights.


Ps. Fair play to the Busmen. Hope it all goes well in the end.
Also I am the union rep where I work so I know about lies
and broken promises where management is concerned.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE.

I don't want to start a major political debate here but employees in vital sectors should not be allowed to strike. Period. Medical personal, fire fighters, grada, etc. Vital service to the running of the country. And IMO the ESB falls into this category. Look at the deal public sector workers are all getting, benchmarking, secure pension and cannot be fired.
No wonder our health system is so screwed up. We can't get rid of the whole useless administration system because nobody can be laid off.
If you have the right to strike, I should have the right to take my business elsewhere. And obviously I don't have this option.

Now look at the private sector. Their pension depends on how their respective pension fund is performing and at the moment none of them are doing great. You could be out of a job in the morning and have no quarantee that your wages will go up year on year.To achieve a pension return equivilant to the public sector a person in the private sector would have to put 25% of his wages into a pension fund each month from his mid-twenties.


As for the busdrivers, I'd love to get paid 45 min a day to actually just make my way to work.

Getting back to the looming ESB strike action. It's not only my fish and that I'll mis Willy Wonker and the Chocolate Factory I am worried about. Without electricity my central heating will not work. I have two small kids and they also have a right to be looked after properly and that supersedes any other indutrial quarrel.

BTW, this is not a bitching attempt against unions. They are needed but they have to right to hold the country as a whole to ransom.

I wasn't going to tell anybody of this,for fear of looking a right plonker.Last friday night I did a water change on a well stocked rekord 70 tank.At 130pm on the monday afternoon,when back from the weekend away,I thought the water felt cold.It was.18degrees.Yep,I had left the heater and filter unplugged from the water change on the friday night,some 60 hours earlier.The tank contains 2 festivums,9 cory caudimaculatus,1 2in L264,and a good size mogurnda goby,and a cory concolor,quite well stocked.
I simply turned it back on,did a water change of about 20%,added 5 more corys,and have had absolutely no problems since.
It seems the juwel filter is doing ok with all those fish,and a power shutdown of 2 and a half days,with no emergency measures taken,did no harm at all.I realise this would probably not be the case with more sensitive species,but it worked out ok for me in the end.

Glad it worked out ok in the end, just make sure the tank does not start cycling on you.

Not all public sector workers are Bencmarked and they
don`t recieve large pensions.
Some sectors are superannuated but these people pay large
pension contributions each week.
Others get a pittance of a pension. Nothing compared
to the private sector.

Most are tied up in national wage aggreements. Unless a NPA
is due most will only get a cost of living wage each year which is a measley pittance.
They also cannot go in to their bosses office and ask for a
wage increase. The only way most of these workers get a rise
is through Productivity deals. Most of this involves selling
conditions and making their working lives harder.
The NPA are also done in dribs and drabs. 10% over 2 years.
Shitty deals like this.
This is what pissed me off about our Government. They have just got messive pay increases. Some are a lot more than a
normal worker would get.
They under perform. Most of their areas are very poorly run(health for eg.)
If Bertis wants a rise then why does he not sign up to these
poxy wage agreements that the rest of us have to adhere to.
Then we might not have a problem with them.