Saturday, May 13, 2006
The Morality of Striking
I've often thought before that the morality of striking is very dubious, and never more so than the current example of lecturers striking over pay.
Often, striking is the only way to get your voice heard when being exploited by your employer, or circumstances have got worse. However, to use striking as a weapon to gain more than you are entitled to is plain wrong.
By taking a job, you agree to work for a certain amount of money to do a certain thing, and whilst that holds true, striking can never be right. If you don't like what you going to be paid, don't take the job. It's as simple as that.
To take a job and then strike when circumstances haven't changed is basically cheating; people now rely on you, and no-one else, and to then suddenly turn round and say "I'm not doing it until you give me more money" is pure blackmail.
Okay, in this case the Vice Chancellors might have awarded themselves more money than they are passing on to lecturers, and I'm not saying that's a good thing. But to me, the lecturers sound like spoilt children pointing at another child's toy and saying "I want one of those".
Often, striking is the only way to get your voice heard when being exploited by your employer, or circumstances have got worse. However, to use striking as a weapon to gain more than you are entitled to is plain wrong.
By taking a job, you agree to work for a certain amount of money to do a certain thing, and whilst that holds true, striking can never be right. If you don't like what you going to be paid, don't take the job. It's as simple as that.
To take a job and then strike when circumstances haven't changed is basically cheating; people now rely on you, and no-one else, and to then suddenly turn round and say "I'm not doing it until you give me more money" is pure blackmail.
Okay, in this case the Vice Chancellors might have awarded themselves more money than they are passing on to lecturers, and I'm not saying that's a good thing. But to me, the lecturers sound like spoilt children pointing at another child's toy and saying "I want one of those".
