90% Public Sector Final Salary Pension Meltdown Scandal

ruggedtoast

It gives me a weary smile when I read the posts from people saying public sector pensions are unjustifiable, unfair, unsustainable, and will be abolished any time now.

Swap the words pensions for houses and you pretty much have exactly what the bears have been saying about property.

All I can say is what the bulls say in return. No its not fair but life isnt fair. Its not fair that taxpayers money is used to provide support to one group of people at the expense of another no less deserving group. But its what the powers that be want because they happen to benefit from it.

No government is going to go toe to toe with the unions if they attempt to seriously mess around with existing public sector pensions, and there certainly arent going to be breaches of contract.

Sir_Humphrey

chewmylegoff wrote: »

i love this argument - as if the 6,000,000 people employed in the public sector would just up sticks and leave. where would they go?

if the people who are only staying there for the pension benefits all left, that would probably be a good thing.

Read back to my comments about unemployment. And obviously, not everyone would want to leave, but not everyone would have to.

Of course, those who did would be those who judged they could most easily find alternative employment, flooding the job market and forcing down wages.

All this goes to show that this public vs private is nonsense that just serves to divide and rule. We are all in the same boat.

Treadmill

How does a pension qualify as "Gold Plated" which is a phrase that is is always used ?

I'm public sector but my pension is certainly not the gift from heaven people would have you believe, I pay 11.36% of my salary into it or over 5 grand a year, so I'm hoping it will pay more than the shirt buttons some people want me to get in 30 years time

lemonjelly

Can't think of anything to contribute right now, but great read this thread! Really happy it hasn't become a slanging match which some descended into over summer.

Sir Humphrey, good to see you back from me too.

ruggedtoast

Treadmill wrote: »

How does a pension qualify as "Gold Plated" which is a phrase that is is always used ?

I'm public sector but my pension is certainly not the gift from heaven people would have you believe, I pay 11.36% of my salary into it or over 5 grand a year, so I'm hoping it will pay more than the shirt buttons some people want me to get in 30 years time

I would personally like to see everyone have a fair chance at a comfortable retirement and a modest place to live.

Doesnt seem to be what the UK is about anymore though.

Harry_Powell

StevieJ wrote: »

Looks like we could have GDP growth Q3 does that mean we will see a growth in public services :eek:

If we could shed public sector jobs as quick as they are shed in the private sector, then yes once we see sustained growth in the economy and the subsequent increase in employment in the private sector then we should also see a corresponding increase in the public sector.

In reality the public sector never sheds jobs in the same manner as the private sector, in fact never seems to shed jobs at all, so we should only see growth in the public sector once the economy is growing beyond where it was at the height of the boom.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I work in higher education- is that classed as public sector or somewhere in between? We have research funding from government bodies and private companies.

I started a final salary pension earlier this year after constant nagging from my dad; it just makes me feel old and poor.

I get the impression it's really hard to be sacked from the civil service for simply being rubbish at your job.

tek-monkey

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

Future entitlements have already been cut, all new civil servants are on career average pensions now.

I started work at a college in late April, and was put on the LGPS on a final salary pension? Sure I can only get half of it because of my age, joined way too late, but they still exist AFAIK?

Treadmill

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/6197384/Unemployment-crisis-creates-divide-between-private-and-public-sector.html

loueyn

Hi

I've been reading posts on here for a while and chip in occasionally.

Would making people redundant from the Public Sector not just move the problem to the unemployment figures? The taxpaer would still have to pay for these people only it would be in the dole queue rather than their wage packet.

As for views on the great Public Sector wage/holidays/pension etc... surely it's a case of ALL jobs should get these conditions Private or Public, we'd have a happier workforce which would increase productivity and make the country a nicer place as a whole. Plus there'd be more work for everyone to do which would mean companies would all have to employ more people. (ie lower unemployment rates).

Utopian idealist speaking here! ;-)