Why I Support the Strikers
1 Reasons
2 How to overcome strikes
There are many reasons why I support the strikers, especially those who work in Government Departments, Municipalities etc.
I speak from experience, having been in the Government Service in one of the “lower” salary brackets for most of my life.
The main cause of the problem, in my humble opinion, is the huge gap, salary wise, between the workers and management.
The strikers are always blamed as being the “BAD” guys, which is true to a degree because in a lot of ways they exacerbate their position. Most, if not all of the strikers are in the lower income bracket, and are the ones in most need of decent salaries.
I do understand and sympathise with their anger but do think that violence is unnecessary.
If things are not put straight between management (I am targeting what I know and have experienced) and the lower income earners, the strikes are going to become worse and more frequent in years to come. AND, I will stand behind them every time, if things remain the way they are.
What are the downfalls of the system the way it stands
When the workers go on strike and demand an increase of say (to make calculations easier) 10%, what they have to realize is that should they get it, ALL staff will be getting it.
Now, the strikers are blamed for crippling the economy, BUT, this is not the case, as I will show.
Let us do some calculations.
A worker on the bottom end of the salary scale might be earning R3000.00 per month, whereas a worker in a management position could be earning up to R50,000.00 per month, and in some cases more.
The poor guy at the bottom of the scale might be happy with getting a 10% increase, which he could be demanding but his increase is only R300.00 per month.
Of course, the 10% increase is to all levels so now look at what the guy at the top of the ladder is getting…………………………R5000.00 per month.
So, why should he worry, he is at least seeing a decent change in his income.
(I am quite sure that this is why those in control will talk percentage increase and not an amount in cash)
The poor worker, however, finds himself in a similar situation as he did before the strike, due to the fact that inflation goes up and he sees his money being eaten up by increased food prices, increased electricity bills, increased water bills etc etc.
So, he is back to square one.
It is NOT the striker who is crippling the country but those at the TOP of the ladder who are getting huge salaries. The striker generally just wants a better way of life. Already the salary gap between the worker and management is huge and if the system does not change, the gap between those on the bread line and below and those who have wine with their dinner is only going to increase and things will only get worse.
I know, a lot of the time the problem is blamed on the poor white guy, or apartheid etc etc, but in truth it must be blamed on those in charge, whether they run the country, big business or are just running their own small business. Skin colour has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Ways to alleviate the problem
There are two ways I can see to end the problem.
1 Increases, if done by percentage, should be done on a sliding scale.
eg The worker at the bottom of the ladder should be getting a 20% increase while the guy at the top a 5%. (this is just an example)
Lets do some calculations……….
On R3000.00 the worker will be getting an increase of R600.00 per month.
On R50,000.00 the top guy will be getting R2,500.00 per month.
As you can see, the difference between the two is still enormous and needs to be adjusted but it does illustrate how bad the situation is.
2 There could be an increase “over the board” to ALL employees, which is equal.
eg there could be a R500.00 increase to ALL staff, no matter what level they are employed in. (again, this is just an example).
Now, do you really think management will go for this??? Of course not! They get a much better increase if their salary goes up by 1 or 2%………………..
I know a lot of people will disagree with what I have had to say but who really is in charge of our country (and I think this goes for a lot of other countries as well. Who really holds the power?). The Unions. And the Unions are there because the workers ask them to help.
If the workers were treated fairly they would have no need for unions and they would eventually collapse and fade away……………….
To my mind, if there were honesty and fairness in a country it would be in a lot better position.
Lets face it, without the workers where would the country be? There would be no politicians, no “echelon,” no management because there would be no production. Everybody would be working for themselves, so management would not be necessary.
The poor would be poor by choice……………………..
