[user104658]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

there are very few that have seen real increases in earnings over the last 20 years. Everything has been brought to a head by the obscenity that has been the conservative government over the last couple of years and it's now been topped off by the tories pandering to brexit that has crippled us when combined with the cost of living crisis. Not forgetting the corruption on a massive scale overseen by the conservatives.

That said, the strikers know their pay demands are not reasonable, and if that costs lives, it's going to go down very badly

They've seen large real terms pay cuts, never mind pay increases, that's the whole point.

And strike pay demands are not supposed to be reasonable - they're supposed to be a barter system where strikers ask for the world, get offered a pittance, refuse it, then get a reasonable offer which they accept. That's literally how strike action works. The demand is a negotiation stance. I don't know if people aren't aware of that, or simply pretend not to be.