A very different Winter of Discontent is gripping Britain

unherd.com

2 points·sourpuss··3 comments

When the shortages bit hard, and people were fighting over c̶a̶n̶d̶l̶e̶s̶ toilet paper and sugar this last covid lockdown.. that's how people started behaving during the winter of discontent, in my memory.

I think the nurses are safe in that regard. There's a lot of sympathy. But anyone else may well suffer a backlash, because of the inconvenience effects.

During successive firemen and ambulance strikes I remember a lot of people saying "they shouldn't be allowed to" which I found odd. Public support evaporates very quickly. (Edited: candles was 1973)

Listening to the RMT spokesman Mick Lynch recently, I found it interesting how he diverts the conversation away from pay as much as possible, and focuses on the other aspects of the deal his union is fighting for. People who are also not being paid sufficiently well may balk at these union members asking for a pay rise when they're getting nothing at all, and, as you allude to, may then become more angry at the inconvenience they're suffering.

But perhaps are less likely to do that when they feel that the issue is also about thousands of people outright losing their jobs as part of the proposed deal, and the safety of the rail system being imperiled due to maintenance being cut back to the bone; no-one wants another Hatfield disaster. As a strategy for gaining public support I think focusing on this side of the narrative makes a lot more sense.

A lot of truth in this I think. Pay goes to envy, conditions and safety concerns are public interest.

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