Now Is the summer/autumn/winter of our discontent

Ok so lower paid workers that put it long hours and still have not realistic prospect of a normal life due to poor pay, I get that they would need to strike.

But first we have had train drivers on 70k a year striking and now I hear this morning that BARRISTERS are going on strike due to their poor pay. That’s not a typo, I don’t mean they people who work in Costa Coffee. I mean those people who wear silly wigs and earn £300 an hour and charge you £150 for a letter that their secretary wrote. Those guys.

I’ve always been very fair with my pricing. I do a lot of jobs for nothing or discount them for vulnerable people and I never load up jobs if I’m working in a big house for instance. But I’m getting to the stage where I’m gonna start asking people what they do and if it’s a lawyer or a banker or a train driver then I’m doubling my price. There’s only one word for these people and it’s Greedy, so maybe it time to play them at their own game.

 

So just train drivers striking? Forget about everyone else who works there , let's just focus on the driver's because it fits Schapps (or whatever he's calling himself these days) narrative.
As for barristers you need to read up on why they are upset.

 

Well according to your bbc this morning barristers are striking for better pay whilst doing government work. The average Uk salary for a barrister is 90k a year with many many more earning closer to 200k.

Your comment about focusing on train drivers is a bit odd. Are they on strike? Yes. Do they already earn on average 60-70k a year? Yes. If the unions want to get better deals for station staff, cleaners etc that’s fair enough, they could quite simply have said we are striking as a union but the drivers won’t be included in any of our pay settlements as this is about getting a better deal for the poorest in our society.

like I said you won’t here me complain if teaching assistants, nurses, fire fighters etc can’t get a fair pay deal and take industrial action. But I think most average people will look at Barristers going on strike and think that’s a pi@@ take.

 

You are so wrong. The people ( barristers)that are striking are those that do primarily legal aid work. This is very lowly paid. Barristers don’t have secretaries and seldom write letters. They are self employed, like yourself and have to pay all of their own expenses including travel ( often quite long distances ) chambers rent, a percentage of their income to their chambers clerk. Etc
A recent survey showed average income for a barrister with 2 years experience was approx 60k before expenses. Most work an 8 hour day at court then go home and do another 3 or 4 hours preparing their case for the following day.

 

Lol. Are you seriously suggesting that 60k isn’t a living wage?

My heart bleeds for them having to do a twelve hour shift. My Mrs did twelve hour shifts in a care home for minimum wage and minimum breaks and guess what her employer never paid her travelling either.

 

Typical post from our resident Political correspondent,
It’s them them they they !
Votes for this lot and then moans about it
but you will be alright rusty if you can be that selective who you work for so it won’t affect you
Probably pull down more than enough anyway

 

It isn’t £60k though. After expenses and before tax it is in the region of £40k. I would be surprised if a full time self employed tradesman earned less than this, if they did then it may be worth them considering doing a law degree, then professional exams, then 2 years pupillage then get on the “gravy train” of a pre tax income of £40k .

No “cash in hand” for barristers either!

 

Barristers are also self employed. So they can be equally selective on who they work for. If they feel that the money offered for legal aid isn’t enough then don’t take the work on. If a landlord phoned me and said I need a certificate and I’m prepared to pay you twenty pounds to do it wouldn’t take it on. My answer wouldn’t be well I think I will go on strike then.

How can we be in a situation where people are earning well in excess of the national average wage and think they are hard done by. When there’s nurses working twelve hour shifts and using food banks. Let’s be honest during the pandemic did any of you think we really should be out there clapping the barristers.

My view is that the unions and ultimately strike action should be the last resort to protect the most vulnerable and taken advantage of us in society. Not to get more money for people who are already earning 40-70k a year. Those people are not struggling. Strike for people who are genuinely in need.

 

I don’t think you realise that barristers doing criminal legal aid work are actually representing the sort of person who is genuinely in need. If they do as you say, refuse to do that work and take on more profitable private client work…..who is going to assist those vulnerable and in need of advice and representation ?

 

Not only that, but aren't many of those barristers undertaking legal aid cases also working their way up the ladder to the more lucrative work?

Many of these ills are simply a result of the conservative party's, especially in its current form, obsession with small govt.

Isn't it interesting, on many levels, how our so called minister for brexit opportunities is looking inwardly at reforms of the civil service rather than outwardly at getting more export agreements?

 

No one and then the government will have to negotiate a better rate for the work if their requests are reasonable. But going on strike isn’t the answer and I’m sorry but no one I know will be buying the poor hard done by barrister/train driver stories either. I’ve got plenty of barristers/ law partners as customers and I can tell you now from the houses they own and the cars they drive, they ain’t struggling and they ain’t earning 40k a year either.

There’s not a bottomless pit of public finances and I’m sorry how unpalatable a few of you think my opinion is, but I’d much rather see decent wages increases for nurses, firemen, bin men, police etc before I see more money given to people already earning way way more than any of the people I’ve just listed could ever dream of.

 

In the 80s I went on strike, not for myself, but for the nurses. Would you be willing to do that now.
As I said before read up on the things you are posting before going off on a rant.
I hope you are never in need of legal aid cos with your lot in power in isn't going to be available for much longer.

 

Were you a nurse?

Oh come off it. Are you trying to tell me that the barristers are going on strike for the good of others? Of course they aren’t. They are going on strike for the good of themselves.

The my lot comment is a bit telling. As I’ve stated several times I’ve actually voted Labour more times than I’ve voted Tory. In fact my last voting record at the previous four elections was I think
Labour
Didnt vote - was Ill on the day
UKIP
Conservative

prior to that I think it was labour, labour. But obviously that’s going all the way back to the Blair era.

 

I said I went on strike for the nurses, last time I looked they couldn't go on strike for themselves.
You've made it clear on many occasions who you would vote for and was a cheerleader for bozo until it became too embarrassingly obvious how bad a PM he was.

 

Have you ever needed a barrister? Do you know how long they train? Have you done any background reading on their situation? Do you understand how Legal Aid works?
Informed commentary is useful, the opposite is not.

 

A newly qualified Band 5 NHS nurse now earns £27,055. Not too bad?
The pay rise introduced across the NHS in 2022 means that average is probably now closer to £35,000.
That's basic pay, not including overtime and bonus/shift payments.
What a barrister doesn't get that NHS nurses do:
Holidays start at 27 days rising in increments to 33 after 10 years. Plus 8 days bank holidays.
They aso have one of the best pension schemes going.
I'm not suggesting they are over paid, but they don't do too badly. How many on here get 6 1/2 weeks paid holiday + bank holidays for example?

 

Daughter just took a pay cut as a band 4, while learning to be a band 5 she's on £20k from £23k.

 

I've got no issues with barristers striking. I am not a barrister, nor am I in the legal profession, so I have no educated position to judge their actions. Nor can I rely on the media to tell me what I should think, which is a danger that many people seemingly allow these days. (Why?! It's total lunacy! Mainstream media abuses clickbait and sensationalism. They are not reporting facts, they are reporting a spin on the facts, designed to create an emotional response in you, whether it's the right one or not).

What I do think is that they (or anyone really) that puts themselves through difficult and highly expensive education, should expect to be able to get a good return on that investment over the course of their career.