Trumpton Basher.
You claim to have no axe to grind with us and that you are similar in many ways to us – I’m sorry but, no, you’re not. You may well feel pride in the Forces, however, you are happy to offload your job onto us when the conditions you face get too tough. WE simply work harder and push on through. I would suggest that since you were in and out of the mob in a blink of an eye and that was some 20 odd years ago, you know very, very little about life for the average serving man and women.
Putting things into perspective, at present, with Operations around the world gathering pace, never before have the Forces been so over-stretched. LEAN, E2E and other manpower reducing ‘initiatives’ are forcing the average serviceman or woman to do the job of at least 4+ people jeopardising flight safety and putting additional strain our ability to carry out even the most basic day to day duties. The demise of most ‘blue-suit’ second line facilities means that most serving personnel are now at First Line, i.e. OOA or on Exercise somewhere around the world most of the time. The impact this has on domestic lives is profound with service men and women unable to see their families for vastly protracted periods of time, hence the PVR (not to mention the divorce) rate is growing at a shocking pace. Single personnel are in some cases sharing 36 man ‘transit’ rooms for periods in excess of 24 months because ‘adequate’ accommodation has yet to be built. Those who reside in permanent service accommodation regularly find it woefully inadequate. Unlike you, we do not have a Union. IMHO even if we were offered one, the idea of a British Servicemen going on strike goes against everything we stand for and is tantamount to desertion. So I say again, we are not similar in any way! If you think your conditions suck, please don't look to us for simpathy.
You try to“… lay the blame for the disputes at the start on the incompetence of my Union….” If you feel that your Union is incompetent, why not leave? Or would that mean that if you were to become a ‘scab’ you would not be able to rely on your colleagues coming to your aid if your life depended on it? Furthermore, as a Professional, if striking was so hard to do, did you vote in favour or against strike action?
Your apologies that the Forces got dragged into the whole dispute are somewhat hollow – who exactly do you think were going to have to pick up the job? Teachers? Dustbinmen? As with every previous strike, the FBU was well aware of what action the government would take. As in every case of civil unrest, national disaster, flood, blizzard etc etc the Forces would (and will continue to) be called in. Although increasing the workload of an already over-stretched Armed Force was not your primary goal, you evidently gave little regard to those of us who had to step in and do your job.
What remains contemptible is that you (the FBU) gave little regard to your Duty of Care to the British Public. The FBU were reluctant to furnish the Armed Forces with the same modern equipment that you take for granted, forcing us to rely on outdated and inadequate equipment. The blame for every injury, every death that occurred during the dispute lies well and truly at your door and yours alone. The Forces personnel involved will, as always, do their very best, nevertheless, the FBU’s decision to deny us even a fighting chance is unforgivable.
You are right, however, on one point: “…at the end of the day, we are all human…it is natural to defend what you hold dear by whatever means available”. My question to you is that if your family were harmed in a house fire during a FBU dispute, whom would you blame? Yourself?, Us? The FBU?
One final point. You say that “Those of us like me...have a bit of an idea of respect, tradition, History, Loyalty…”. You forgot to mention duty.
