How public unions could win private sector support

I HAVE no problem with people being unhappy about taking pay cuts and looking to protect their wages.

Neither do I disagree with the general consensus that the people who caused the country’s problems have been let off scot-free for the disaster they have forced on our economy.

However, I think I speak for a majority of the lower-paid in the private sector when I say I am disgusted with the way the unions try to put their case forward, as if they are representing the “little man”.

If they were pushing for accountability from those responsible for the mess they would have the support of the entire country.

Why not drop the pay cut demands and just work to rule or strike to demand proper accountability? The unions would get great support for this noble cause.

By constantly suggesting they are on some crusade in the name of fairness, the unions are simply wagging the dog to keep the focus on bankers and the Government in order to disguise the fact that they are simply trying to squeeze more money out of a near-bankrupt society.

The unions seem to ignore the fact that the Government is also an employer and, like every other employer in this country, it has to readjust its finances accordingly.

The people the unions refer to, when suggesting some members of society have not felt real “pain”, probably amount to less than 3% of the working population.

From my perspective, if the pay cuts aren’t maintained I will have to pay more to subsidise public servants’ pay. My wife has just lost her job and I have no one to protect my wages or my job, so I can’t understand how the unions can be so matter of fact when they protest the “pain” their members feel.

Pain seems to be felt on different levels depending on your perspective. In the private sector, when your boss calls you into his office, keeping your job is your only concern. Public servants don’t have that worry, so from a private sector employee perspective, they have the luxury of taking for granted the great advantage that job security provides in the current climate. Would I feel disgusted and upset if I was in the public service? Most definitely. However, it wouldn’t change the fact that these cuts have to happen whether or not the people who got us into this mess are held accountable.

From an international perspective, we have a lot of goodwill for the actions our Government has taken in applying these pay cuts (while other governments procrastinate over what to do).

The property bubble was the only reason pay rises were possible in the public service and the quickest way out of recession is to attract foreign investment while enhancing our image abroad.

It is vital that the people who destroyed our economy are dealt with properly by the law. But it is even more vital we get our house in order first.

Oran Drumgoole

Northlands

Bettystown

Co Meath