Do Strikes Really Work?

If you're really annoyed about something the government has put forward, you tend to go on strike, especially if you're part of a union.

However, how many strikes against governments have actually worked in the last century?

• 1926 General Strike - Unsucessful
• 1978-79 Winter of Discontent - Unsuccessful
• 1984-85 Miners Strike - Unsuccessful
• 2002-03 Fire fighters strike - Unsuccessful
• 2013-14 RMT Strike - Unsuccessful
• 2013-14 Teachers/ Firefighters/  Strike - Unsuccessful

Six major strikes, six major loses.

What are the union bosses doing so terribly wrong?

Could it be the timing of the strikes? Or the reason for their strikes?

All the strikes mentioned above were conducted at times of financial difficulty throughout the nation, and they were all about pay, except the Miners Strike which was about pit closures.

Recently teachers received a 1% increase in their pay package. Apparently this increase is an insult to them, despite the fact that there are many more sectors who have not received a cut, but have received cuts, and pay freezes.

If they were receiving a decrease, or further freezes, then perhaps I may have been a little more understanding, but the fact that they received an increase completely destroys any sympathy I may have had.

1926 we have the Great Depression after World War I, money was scarce, and jobs were far and few in between.

1970's were a complete shambles from both the Tories and Labour, allowing the unions to bring the country to it's knees. Binmen, grave diggers, teachers, factory workers, all striking because they wanted more pay.

1984-85 Miners Strike, where Magaret Thatcher planned to close pits, causing an uproar within the NUM, which then allowed her to shut even more pits as the country carried on fine without them.

The current strikes we face today with the RMT, NUT, and FBU are once again over pay.

Maybe, when we hopefully reach some financial stability, and public sector jobs still are not receiving adequate pay increases, that's when unions should strike.

During times that every sector, whether you're in private or public, are receiving pay cuts/ freezes they should carry on like the rest of us.