Also I got into a debate with someone on one of the pickets last month.
They said that they would happily join a picket for my industry to get 15Ā£/hour.
I said thanks for the offer but I wouldnāt attent such a picket as while I agree with a fair days work for a fair days pay, I just see Ā£15 as unrealistic even for me and my industry.
Iām willing to practice what I preach there.
All opinions are my own
The rate id be happy to do it for is 11.50Ā£ to Ā£12/hour
Why do you think youāre worth more than someone who cleans trains just because you work in āfinancial servicesā? Seems a bit elitist to me. If train cleaners earnt Ā£15 an hour would it be a pay rate that would attract you to switching? If not itās arguable not high enough.
I feel like your posts are the literal embodiment of the Rupert Murdoch cookie meme 
I donāt think Iām worth more. Arenāt we both doing unskilled jobs. There are plenty of unskilled or minorly skilled jobs on financial services.
That said Iām financially conservative by political worldview and socially liberal by political worldview.
I can never agree with most leftists on financial matters and never agree with most conservatives on social matters.
Well, thanks for posting your opinions so far! I donāt agree with anything youāve written but unpopularopinion is one of my favourite Reddit subs so I kind of respect you for posting them. The internet is never a place to have a nuanced debate though so I wonāt start arguing here!
I donāt even know whatā¦ whereā¦ just wow!
The people who clean trains work unsociable hours, clean up vomit, excrement and all the other disgusting delights some humans feel the need to leave behind. Ā£15 per hour seems very little for doing such a job.
Ok I get the point. Also I did work as a chambermaid for two months.
Long story short I wasnāt overly skilled at that line of work. I was let go because of that.
My point to the I think āIām better because I work in financial servicesā style comment is.
I have worked this sort of role even if it was only for 2 months. I have more life experience of living and working in the real world then Rupert Murdoch or Jacob Reese Mogg and company.
Yes I was never great but 2 months of doing it was enough for me to gain a feel in real life of how its like. Will I ever have the same life experience as someone whoās been in the cleaning sector for 15 years, no I wonāt and I wonāt make out my 2 months is anywhere near that.
But itās still more experience of this than Rupert Murdoch or Jacob Reese Mogg have in their lifetimes.
Also I donāt think Iāve ever worked ina high status role ever. I worked in a book Wearhouse for 2 years. It was manual work and was equally uncomfortable in that warehouse in extremes of hot and cold weather.
Yes I work in financial services but working the post room and call centre is not high status roles even though the financial services industry can get more ārespect in the eyes of the publicā.
I suppose Iām just financially conservative, Iāll put it down to that.
As for the unions, despite being financially conservative I recognise their place in the world, otherwise I wouldnāt be a union member. But like most financial conservative minds, I do think there are times when union bosses ask for too much.
Oftentimes they arenāt the ones loosing. Itās the people on the picket lines and to an extent the public as well.
But it shouldnāt be entirely unrealistic, especially over a medium to long term horizon, Iām speculating but presumably relative to some other technically skilled jobs youāre not seeing something like Ā£15 an hour fair (this would be around the Ā£31k average wage for a 40 hour week) vs the Ā£9.60 an hour minimum.
Real terms wage growth since 2009 has been pretty much non existent, so itās clear that Ā£9.60 an hour is too low;
A fair amount of this can be attributed to the weakening of Sterling against the Dollar since the 2008 financial crisis.
But this is why people are striking, falling living standards, because of flat/low real terms growth for over a decade.
Itās a sorry state of affairs when people in the country have to choose between food and heating, rely on food banks etc
Wages are even predicted to be stagnant into 2026 relative to 2008 - UK real wages will still be lower in 2026 than they were in 2008 - New Statesman
Something has to change at some point and I wish those striking all the best in getting a good increase and hopefully more in the future
Edit - In terms of being closer to the topic, company profit and dividends are easy targets for the media and unions to stoke up that anger, most people on the street (and arguably some who do actually invest) arenāt interested or care about the nuances and greater detail in company financial reports over long time periods, I suspect any activism will probably be short term/temporary at worst and this will drop off the news cycle.
This sort of thingās a good example of why itās important to diversify a high-yield portfolio by sector. Better still, in my view, to buy an investment trust which can maintain/grow its dividend whatever the weather.
Itās odd how everyone forgets that the oil companies had to cut or even cancel dividends less than 2 years ago.
Itās also odd that they canāt grasp that they are multinationals, they donāt have to list in the UK and therefore pay windfall tax.
Hopefully they wonāt pack there bags and move somewhere else and pay there corporate tax in a country which doesnāt suddenly throw a windfall tax at them.
Every investment trust in the income equity sector i bought during 2020 has increased its dividends. Even though some only covered there dividend payments 75%
NAIT has yet to use any of its dividend reserve.
So using these strike leaflets as a start, does that mean as an employee and share holder in the Breedon Group, that I have to start berating myself for working hard all year, to buy the shares in my SAYE scheme in the hope that the shares I buy will suppliment my retirement income with dividends? 
I donāt understand some of these socialist idiots, people who invest in companies expect a return for lending that money. Demanding a stop in divs, will harm investment and make life harder.
I notice so far itās only shell and BP these (mostly) armchair activists are going for, for now.
To get back on topic I hope we donāt live in a world where the words and phrases ādividendā, ācapital gainsā, āshare price appreciationā, āinvestorā, and āinvestmentā become socially taboo.
Almost like in some quarters the word āprofitā was a dirty word in the 2008 crash.
Also I notice fiscal left wing minds do not always diferentiate between someone who has a few thousand on freetrade and those with enough money to participate in hedge funds and other complex schemes.
I get when ātax the richā types go after multi millionaires and billionaires. Even though Iām a fiscal conservative mind, I do get where they are coming from on some level.
I think we need better education on it. People donāt know much about investing, and most people donāt seem to even know they can invest or that itās accessible to them.
Thatās not to say we shouldnāt encourage companies to be responsible with profits and to give back when they can. That can only be a net positive for society. But I think a lot of it is down to education on investing for normal people
I donāt think it means that at all. In that specific situation there is obviously a sweet spot which is the balance between your shares performing well and you doing well as an employee.
If they decided to pay all their staff Ā£0 next year (and the staff stick around! - I get that itās an extreme example) your stock would probably do really well but youād likely be worse off. (With he caveat that obviously I donāt know your situation or how much stock you hole etc.)
I invest to make my life better long term but iām also aware itās not the only way that will happen. A hit on my investments for a more equal income distribution would be a net win for me.
I donāt think this works as an example at all, so it kind of invalidates your argument. if a company paid staff Ā£0. Work would stop or reduce, quality would go down, systems would stop functioning, their product would stop being produced, and theyād get hammed with lawsuits from staff and customers. the stock wouldnāt do well at all.
@Barbellion
What trains do you use?
I have never seen vomit or excrement on any train i have travelled on. Ever.
They are good cleaners, youād see it all the time if they werenāt!
And Iām sure none of these social armchair activists have a private pension
Where itās funds are invested in 
these evil corporate companies 
The cleaners are coming on at the end of the day hence unsociable hours. During the rest of the time a bloke comes round with a bag and asks for your rubbish. They dont do any cleaning during normal hours. So any vomit and excrement would be there for all to see.
Sure ok. My point was that as an employee stock holder there is a balance between wanting the stock to do well and wanting good employee pay and benefits. I get that they arenāt mutually exclusive but that was sort of the framing of the comment that I was replying to. Where that balance is depends on your individual stock holdings etc. but as you point out workers are essential to the success of any company and should be treated commensurately with that.
My point is that there is always a balance and I would argue the social contract and the returns on capital Vs labour are not quite right in the current climate.
I think the hysteria of āthe mob are coming for usā in this thread is utterly bizarre. Wouldnāt it be great if we all thought about what weād like the world to look like and worked towards that rather than limiting our imaginations to how to get the most out of the current system. Iād argue thatās something us āsocialist idiotsā share with most company founders and serious innovators. (Again itās possible to be both but Iād only consider myself 75% of one.)