Surely in this dispute there will always be two sides as in any dispute.But as usual the themes often go; because I haven't got it-so they shouldn't have it or I've got it- but I don't want anyone else to have it! The problem is the unwillingness of government to redress the balance of how local government employees get paid, or rather how our taxpayers money is used.

We can always find massive (billions) amounts of money for the military (despite huge cutbacks) There may be a shortage of personel, but I suspect little shortage of armaments such as missiles, planes and bombs. I can't see us halfway through bombing Iraq into submission saying-"hang on, we've only got a couple of bombs left!!" Can you?

Consider how much money has been spent recently on; The Scottish assmbly, the Welsh asembly, the dome, the number of state functions, trips abroad for mp's, ministers, banquets,privatisation etc etc. How much has been lost by selling of council homes which end up in housing association hands. When gas, electricity, telecoms, railways, water were privatised the "little man" got to buy a few shares if he wanted to, ask yourself, who bought 1000's of shares and still controls these essentials? (Most of these things keep our political leaders in more than a lavish lifestyle!). It is our money-we all pay taxes.It is massively misused and wasted.

Would you rather see an effective health service with more staff and facilities to help us through sickness without too few ground staff. Doctors working 50 or more hours a week, nurses burnt out and quitting, effective teaching without teachers being burnt out by working 50 hours a week( Don't anyone start the long holidays crap-we don't get paid for holidays!)A fire service, an ambulance service, an effective police service. Good roads,safe streets, a sound local infrastructure with good local facilities. An effective public transport service.

We have banks, supermarkets, building societies, petrochemical industries, communications firms, energy suppliers etc etc making really huge profits. (Yes they pay tax and are employers as well)But much of this goes to a few over rich individuals.

It is unfair to call the working man a greedy bastard because they want a decent living wage.Everytime the little workers get a pay rise in private industry, the cost is passed on to us - the taxpayer/consumer. If you get a low wage, ask yourself, how much are my directors/bosses/shareholders getting? Will you refuse a wage rise because it will put up the price of bread, milk, shoes,newsapapers,hair cuts,CD's etc etc? I bet you bloody well wont.If you work for any private firm every wage rise you get is passed onto the consumer, so don't be "greedy bastards"!!!! But you'll moan on about local government employees getting a wage rise wont you? You'll sit and gripe about your taxes going up to pay for local government workers wont you? But you'll accept your private company pay rise with glee without thinking "my pay rise has just meant some other low paid person has to pay more for goods and services", wont you?

Lunchtime supervisors, dinner ladies, teaching assistants, cleaners, essential workers in all walks of life get just above the minimum wage. Firemen earn not much more.They can only be paid by the money that is raised from taxes!

Why to so many workers get such low wages? Because the balance of power in this country has always been in the hands of the rich and powerful!

Now that is fine if you think that being a director of a communications giant, and getting a bonus of X millions of pounds even when you make a balls up of the job is good, OK carry on (But no one pickets their head offices). Being an owner of a supermarket group and having a personal salary of X millions of pounds a year is good, that's OK too(But no on pickets the supermarkets).We still keep paying! We all moan a litle (well I moan a lot) when MP's who get a really good pension, excellent salary, fringe benifits, loads of perks etc get a huge wage rise. No one stops to tell them "you chose do do this job because you care about society"-you should do it for less!!!!! Because I personally think that there have been very few MP's etc deserving of the huge wages they get in return for the little they do for us in the last 40 years.Only a few politicians stand out as being socially and morally exempt from self centredness and huge personal gain.

When: your house is burgled,car stolen, you are ill,need an operation, your children go to school,your road needs repairing, your drains unblocking, you want a book from the library,and have to call on any of the services paid for by taxes be thankfull you are not paying the privatised rate for the job.

If you are lying sick and injured in the road or crashed in your car ask yourself, have I got the money to pay for the paramedics to help me?

If you are a rape, mugging or other crime victim or your relative has been murdered, ask your self can I afford to pay the money needed to catch the criminal?

If your house/car is burning before you call the fire brigade, ask yourself if I have to pay them to save it, me, etc Have I got the money to do so if they were going to make me pay the rate for the job!!!!

If you can afford to pay for these privately, then do so. You are so much luckier than the rest of us, but even if you could pay, I bet you wouldn't want to!!

But for the rest of us be thankful for relatively cheap facilities in our lives.