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I've written a blog post about why I'm on #strike today. It shows how the public sector pays £32k for a "software developer" where the private sector pays £35-70k. We struggle to recruit and retain staff and services are suffering.

https://all-geo.org/volcan01010/2023/03/why-i-went-on-strike-over-civil-servant-pay/

cc #prospectstrike #ukpolitics

Why I went on strike over civil servant pay | Volcan01010

all-geo.org
#ukpolitics #strike #prospectstrike
This entry was edited (1 year ago)
in reply to Dr John A Stevenson

Tom Chadwin
Tom Chadwin
• •
Laughed out loud at "small-state-advocating, rugged individualists".

The best of luck to you. I worked (and striked) in the public sector for 18 years, and only left a couple of years ago because underfunding of the public sector led to a pensions shortfall.

Moving to the private sector did boost my salary significantly. I'd progressed in the public sector, but only through the unwanted step into middle-management.

My sadness at no longer working for a public good is real.
in reply to Tom Chadwin

Dr John A Stevenson
Dr John A Stevenson
• •
@tomchadwin Thanks, Tom! The lack of higher-level technical positions is a real issue. There is no-one above my grade who mainly writes code for a living. Some say that we aren't a software company, where developers earn more than managers, but in Informatics we are doing exactly the same work as a software company.
@Tom Chadwin
in reply to Dr John A Stevenson

Dr John A Stevenson
Dr John A Stevenson
• •
@tomchadwin I hope you have a least some public sector clients that you are helping.

It's hard to put a price on the getting off working towards a public good, but these strikes are a response to it going up by about 10% this year.
@Tom Chadwin
in reply to Dr John A Stevenson

Tom Chadwin
Tom Chadwin
• •
I work for public-sector and charitable clients, and also on environmental projects, so of course I'm incredibly lucky.

The strikes are absolutely and completely necessary. They are a strike against the hard numbers, but also against the ethos of the ruling party which despises the public sector on which it relies.

Thinking of you and your colleagues.
in reply to Dr John A Stevenson

Tom Chadwin
Tom Chadwin
• •
They can't ignore the relentless increase of data and software into all domains. Either they will start to pay batter, or they will face a sharp increase in contractor fees.
in reply to Tom Chadwin

Dr John A Stevenson
Dr John A Stevenson
• •
@tomchadwin That's the thing, though - it's cheaper to have your own in-house teams that pay contractor rates for someone with no subject-matter expertise. The contrast between public-sector COVID dashboard and private-sector track and trace showed that clearly.
@Tom Chadwin

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