Public sector earn 50% more than private sector

ninky_2

macaque wrote: »

The pay structure in the public sector does not seem to follow any logic.

everything follows some sort of logic you just have to look to find it. possibly competition for middle management / pen pusher jobs in private sector has driven up that area whilst the sort of alternative jobs armed forces applicants might get are less well paid. another argument is that perhaps pen pushers are more vociferous / successful at pushing up pay whilst armed forces lack the skills this requires. armed forces / police also can't strike so that removes a bargaining tool.

chewmylegoff

ninky wrote: »

(one of the sacked drivers they've been striking over just won his employment tribunal out of interest)

yes, rather underlining the fact that there was a tribunal process there to protect the unfairly dismissed employee, and that calling six days of strikes (with 27% support of members) was wholly inappropriate opportunism on the part of the union, who should have been concentrating on supporting their member through the tribunal process.

no doubt the union will turn this into a pay issue soon enough.

ninky_2

chewmylegoff wrote: »

yes, rather underlining the fact that there was a tribunal process there to protect the unfairly dismissed employee, and that calling six days of strikes (with 27% support of members) was wholly inappropriate opportunism on the part of the union, who should have been concentrating on supporting their member through the tribunal process.

no doubt the union will turn this into a pay issue soon enough.

well they don't have to strike if they don't want to but it's about more than the dismissal of one worker. there are safety issues related to job cuts.

as a regular underground user i find the majority of staff and drivers fantastic - not least at rush hour when the platforms and carriages are rampacked. they were also at the forefront of helping people at the 7/7 terror attacks. perhaps if we had a mayor who was more capable of talking to management and unions we wouldn't be in this situation.

noodle

We have on group of people (who we'll call right wingers and wealthy types) who like to distort the facts to show how overpaid public sector workers are.

Then we have another group of people (who we'll call left wingers and public-sector employees) who like to distort facts to show the opposite.

Funny, that.

The public sector is huge and diverse, and even if you think it's too big... if it was the size you think it should be then it would still be huge and diverse. The private sector, on the other hand, is, er, oh... it's also huge and diverse.

So let's stop trying to draw these comparisons.

It's undisputable that an awful lot of public sector workers are on a fantastic pension deal, and job security and redundancy terms tend to be pretty good too.

Private sector workers, on the other hand, are often more able to progress and increase their earning through either merit or bull****. Their potential rewards at the top end are also higher (but available to the select few, and it's not a meritocracy.

Generally, however, comparisons between wage rates are meaningless because the jobs are different. I'm a private sector Finance Director. I'm paid a similar amount to the public sector FD's responsible for organisations of a similar size to my company... but our jobs are completely different. There are things that I have to deal with that the public sector guys don't have to worry about, but they do a whole bunch of things that I don't have to. Of course that's the case... we work for different organisations.

The job market exists to set wage rates, and each of us is free to choose where we seek to work.. and we should focus only on whether we feel that we, as individuals, are properly rewarded for what we do.

I've come across loads of public sector workers who, in my view, are overpaid and could never dream of earning that money in the private sector. But I've also come across just as many in the private sector who don't come close to justifying their salaries. Although there are often cultural differences between public and private organisations, it's wrong to generalise and draw conclusions.. and when people do that, it seems it's only ever to further their particular agenda.

It's fine to take an interest in the overall scale of the public sector.. we do all pay for it, after all.. but to pair off one group of workers against another, where the vast majority are modestly paid and have little control over their earnings, is divisive.. and it's classic 'divide and conquer' stuff propagated by the elites on both sides.

Sir_Humphrey

The financial incentive to work harder/do work above your grade is to gain promotion.

The_White_Horse

no one in the public sector should earn more than 26k. tube drivers should be shot. that is all.

The_White_Horse

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

The financial incentive to work harder/do work above your grade is to gain promotion.

is this a joke - public sector workers get a promotion every year, come what may. it's their right innit. it's in their contract.

chewmylegoff

ninky wrote: »

well they don't have to strike if they don't want to but it's about more than the dismissal of one worker. there are safety issues related to job cuts.

no, you're right, it's not just over the dismissal of one worker, it's over the dismissal of two workers. the reason the RMT called strikes is that they are both the sacked drivers are union activists.

the RMT have even said that they will call off the strikers if the one who has won his tribunal is reinstated. i can find no reference to any safety issues being relevant to this strike (apart from the rules that the driver who was sacked broke of course). the premise for the strike is completely ludicrous.

since the technology for driverless trains exists, the RMT are being particularly reckless in my view.

mo786uk

Public sector pensions will be massivley eroded over the next 20-30 years (and that will start happening pretty soon).

Therefore that pluspoint of working in the public sector wont really be there to the same extent.

Sir_Humphrey

I am sure numerate people can work out why White Horse is talking nonsense.

I think Pippip sums up the situation perfectly for much white-collar public sector vs private sector work.

I am very happy that I do policy work, although I still have some deathly dull admin work to do as well.