[deeege]

The fact is that your union wanted the London firefighters to not cross the picket to tackle the Dagenham blaze. Don't tell me Im a puppet to the media when that is the only point I raised. Is it true or not?

Also you forgot to mention how long you personally spent on the pocket line?

[robert mitchell]

The pension Has never been too good to be true , its always been an expensive pension to pay into on the understanding you retire at 55 after 30 years service , it used to be compulsory retirement at 55 for a reason .

The same reason soldiers retire from active service at 45 .

You have to remember its the government own research that says we shouldnt be working past 55 and they are ignoring it.

This is to save a few million , less money than we send to india in aid ( even though they have just built an aircraft carrier!) , hs2 50 billion etc etc .

Its ludicrous .

[robert mitchell]

Correct , they did and quite rightly so .

The government are refusing to even talk to the union and there was no life risk at this incident .

How about everybody in the country stops fighting and lets the government do whatever they want to who ever they want .

Let them cut everything to the bone , police , fire, army etc while they send hundreds of millions abroad and waste billions on pointless crap.
Lets carry on with the race to the bottom so the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Has nobody in this country got any backbone anymore?

I have travelled sixty miles while off duty to attend the picket line at my station , not that its any of your business .

[robert mitchell]

http://www.fbu.org.uk/?p=7758

[deeege]

You keep regurgitating the union spiel whilst being amongst the highest paid part timers in the country.

Very noble of you to attend the picket line whilst being off duty too, pat yourself on the back.

[Dave Willis]

well, the forecast was rain yesterday! 

[DG Cleaning]

You keep regurgitating the union spiel whilst being amongst the highest paid part timers in the country.

Very noble of you to attend the picket line whilst being off duty too, pat yourself on the back.

Since when are they part time I thought they did 42 hours a week?

[robert mitchell]

You keep regurgitating the union spiel whilst being amongst the highest paid part timers in the country.

Very noble of you to attend the picket line whilst being off duty too, pat yourself on the back.

You asked me about picketing and I answered , do you not have an intelligent comment ?
We do 48 hours over 4 shifts on a four on four off basis in case you cant do the maths that works out to 42 hours a week .

Thats not part time .

Just for instance train drivers at southwest trains do 35  hours a week for 45000 a year and we put more subsidies into public transport than we did before privatisation .

Do they still drive the trains when they strike ?

The government own figures show that if more than 7% opt out of the pension they lose qll the savings they are trying to make , already 25% of new starters are opting out.

What they are doing doesnt even make any financial sense.

Except of course the shareholders of whatever company ends up running the privatised fire service in the near future .

[robert mitchell]

Im not regurgitating union spiel , im explaining the facts without any spin , unlike our dishonest government .

If you think its such a cushy , highly paid job why have you not applied ?

Feel free to come back with an intelligent comment rather than resorting to sarcasm .

[DG Cleaning]

Its strange how windies come on here telling everyone how fantastic it is on the windows, flexibility, hourly rate others can only dream of etc.
Then have a go at someone else who they perceive as having a decent working life.
I've done my share of 4 on 4 off and yes it is nice to have days off which amount to 3.5 days off every 8 days (allowing for when you get out of bed on your last night shift)
But its no picnic having to reverse your body clock twice every 8 days plus you work all the unsociable hours and miss out on the majority of weekends.

[Dave Willis]

well you could rest on your days off I suppose?

[Dave Willis]

Not forgetting this is a windowcleaners forum and not a firemans forum you could be winding a few windowcleaners up I would imagine?

[DG Cleaning]

well you could rest on your days off I suppose?

If that keeps windies happy perhaps that's what the firemen should do? 

[robert mitchell]

Not forgetting this is a windowcleaners forum and not a firemans forum you could be winding a few windowcleaners up I would imagine?

This thread was started by a window cleaner not a fireman .

I welcome a decent intelligent discussion based on fact .

I dont see the point in childish attacks on people that work hard to protect the public , risk there lives and have to live with all the horroble things they see, especially when there arguments are based on what they have read in the sun or heard on the news .

[Dave Willis]

Well, they are rest days - that's what they are for. Imagine if the Government gets wind of how easy a Firemans job is that they have the energy to work another job on their days off?

[Dave Willis]

You could of course turn your argument on it's head and say - why not chuck the Firemans job in and become a windowcleaner?

Not being funny but out of those 42 hours how many are you actually "working". I don't know anything about your job but the impression I get is that it's all or nothing. I did think about becoming a Fireman once but I'm crap at volleyball 

[robert mitchell]

So we should spend our days off asleep ?

Or on the sofa .

What if we want to play football or go to the gym on days off , should that be banned too ?

They are rest days after all !

Am I allowed to dig over my garden on my rest days or would that mean my job is too easy ?

How many times have you got home from window cleaning heartbroken and tearful at what you have seen that day ?

Ever had to do 20 mins cpr on someone you know is already dead while kneeling  in a pool of there blood ? Someone only 18 years old .

Those images dont just disappear when you leave the job .

If you think its so easy , sign up and do it .

[robert mitchell]

Anybody is entitled to work a second job , evening job , weekend job whatever .

Its not exclusively for firefighters and ours is not the only job that does four on four off .

[Dave Willis]

Chuck the job?

Why don't police become window cleaners? Is it a ladder thing or are they paid more?

[PoleKing]

Thanks for your support stephen , your right there is loads of work out there if your willing to go and get it .

Dave , not really sure what your getting at ?

Think Dave was saying he hasn't got a pension.

I haven't either.
Don't pay into one other than what is demanded.

By the time I get to claiming one there'll be even less than what's 'available' now.
Seeing as the country is £1.3tn in debt that won't be much.

Look after yourself and your family.
No-one else will care when push comes to shove.