Highly paid strikers

[tobyaw]

Journalists at the BBC went on strike. The world didn’t stop. A few unfamiliar faces appeared on the BBC News channel; maybe this is a good career break for them.

I find it quite disturbing seeing highly-paid BBC journalists striking. Some of the presenters who didn’t work during the strike earn astonishingly high salaries. Due to the unique way that the BBC is funded, we collectively feel a sense of ownership of the BBC; these strikers are working for us. Of course some of the striking journalists are on relatively low salaries too, but one has to imagine that even for them working at the BBC is a pretty cushy job compared to commercial television news, or newspapers.

I can’t understand why anyone who pays high-rate tax should be allowed to strike. They should sack the lot of them; that would save the BBC some money.

Comments

[ggreig]

Who are the large private sector employers where unionisation could have an effect? Unions need large numbers of employees with similar conditions to succeed. With industry employing fewer people than in the past, this sort of circumstance isn't so common in the private sector as it used to be; while the public sector still employs large numbers of people under similar conditions.

[tobyaw]

Ah, but with Danny Alexander’s cuts on the way, the public sector will be employing many fewer people…

[ggreig]

Forgive me if I don't view that with unalloyed pleasure.