Police pay cuts 'unavoidable' says Home Secretary
Pay cuts for police officers "must form part of the package" of savings earmarked for the service in England and Wales, the home secretary has said.
Well to quote the Federation Chairman (@PoliceFedChair) on Twitter this morning
"The home sec knows how to motivate cops!"
Once again I'm left baffled as to exactly why I am still a bearer of Her Majesty's Warrant, when the government who call upon us to put ourselves in danger for them due to their radical and sometimes stupid decisions, stab us straight in the back with an announcement like this.
As I stated earlier on Twitter (@ResponsePlod) I don't do this job for the money as otherwise I would have joined an organisation where I was guaranteed better pay and conditions, my rest days, Christmas Day, Bank Holidays and going home at the end of every shift, preferably alive. I did join this job,however and please forgive me for sounding cliché, to make a difference and help people.
I've always enjoyed working with the public and being a police officer has been a dream of mine since I was 8 years old. However, in those days, the police were a respected career, good pay, good conditions and looked after by the government.
If the government want to cut funding by 20% by 2015, increase our pension contribution , cut our overtime, housing allowance, travel and freeze our pay what next?
They actually had the cheek to state that police officers can retire early therefore benefit considerably from their pension. What they fail to state is that by the time we retire, we are burnt out! We've gone through hell to get there with long and dangerous shifts, cancelled days off and the risk of divorce due to never seeing your family.
Cutting our benefits? That's a joke! There's nothing left! If they cut our travel allowance then what they fail to realise is that the reason it's there is so if there's an incident on a train, bus etc you are duty bound to get involved!
I would say, they can kiss that goodbye because if I've had to buy a ticket, I'll be sat in the corner (most likely crushed standing) with my headphones on, looking the other way. The problem is, I most likely will get involved and probably get a Reg 9 as a thank you present.
With the recent insulting staged 1.5% pay rise from the last Home Secretary resulting in a mass protest march which I was proud to take part in. What will this latest kick produce from us?
Some mutterings and groans because that's all we can do. We cannot strike like other services. If we had that right, we would have walked out and not been back.
This government with their cuts, have pushed people to the limit. You only need to take a look at the goings on in Greece and the Middle East for an idea of what could happen.
The government would then expect us to fight back against these protesters for them.
Be very careful Mr Prime Minister, as you may see one or two of us joining the protest, come the revolution!
2 comments:
Well written.
1. I have been in the job for 15 years and never had housing allowance
2. Ditto travel allowance (rural force).
3. Overtime is now a rarity.
I note that in Wisconsin 600 police officers have joined an occupation of the state capitol in protest at similar draconian moves by the authorities there aimed at the whole public sector.
I am getting very pissed off with the governments attitude and the hypocrisy being practised by ACPO.
Agreed! ACPO have their massive salary and sitting on fat pensions! What do they care about us?!
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