Public sector, where where you when we needed help??

Andy_L

howee wrote: »

ALMOST half I repeat HALF your council tax goes towards the council pension scheme.

No it doesn't

Andy_L

howee wrote: »

and don't forget any generous final salary pension that has been built up to present is 100% safe

Except for the back dated change to inflation indexation

Andy_L

howee wrote: »

the fact no one ever gets sacked just moved for poor work grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

You would appear to be using an unconventional definition of the word "fact"

Andy_L

MacMickster wrote: »

Surely the point of a union is that members pay their fees, and in turn the union tries to obtain the best deal possible for their MEMBERS (not non-members, society as a whole, other sectors etc).

I doubt that the public sector unions or workers are after sympathy or public support - just the best deal that they can collectively get.

Theres a wide varity of opinion between differing TUs & Sectors of the Public Sector. The more moderate TUs (eg FDA & Prospect) just want actual negotiation (rather than imposed dictat) and combine pension reforem with pay reform: as pensions are just deferred pay, you can't really treat them separatly

seven-day-weekend

Bin_Boy wrote: »

I do like a good old ill informed bum fight. This whole thread is a classic example of:

1. People who have never worked in the public sector commenting on their work, benefits, pay etc. on the basis of anecdotal evidence and assumptions; and
2. The opposite.

The fact is that people in both sectors generally work very hard and were attracted to their jobs by different criteria ranging from pay, benefits, social environment, ethics and sense of satisfaction from their jobs. I know many people in both sectors and can tell you that there the same mix of people working their !!!!!! off and those who coast in both.

At the end of the day there are some very talented, hard working and committed people in the public sector who may have been attracted to their jobs by the benefits including pensions.

The bottom line is if the government really wants to create efficiencies in the public sector they need to retain (and attract) the talented hard working people and there is a very real possibility that these people may move to the private sector (or not consider the public sector) if pensions are lowered and there isn't some form of incentive to stay.

With the exception of possibly a desire to make some form of positive contribution to the environment or community there is really very little to keep talented people in the public sector at the moment and losing the talented and committed people will ultimately make things worse and more expensive for everyone.

Do I think strikes are the answer? Not really they simply enhance the view many people already have of the public sector. If the unions really want to make any difference what they should really be doing is trying to actually get the message out there about how hard people in the public sector work, how much abuse many of them get on a daily basis and how they generally really are trying to contribute and help.

Will they do this? No, because the majority of the people leading in the unions are stuck in the past and have no idea how to communicate effectively in the modern world.

RANT OVER...

I agree with this post.

Before I retired, I worked in the public sector for many years, in several roles, from being a lollipop lady to an Enforcement Technician in Town Planning. I always appreciated the terms and conditions of my employment and the good pension (which I DID contribute towards and which IS funded).

I also in all my roles, took a pride in carrying them out to the best of my ability and showing the good face of Public Services.

Would I have gone on strike? Very reluctantly. I look upon it as a last resort and I think things are nowhere near that at the moment.

(oh....and my Local Government Pension to be drawn in 2014 will be £50 a week based on today's rates).

Old_Slaphead

Bin_Boy wrote: »

I do like a good old ill informed bum fight.

Is this a typo or are we moving across to a more adult-orientated discussion here ?

cyclonebri1

CiderBoy wrote: »

Is there a requirement for these anti public sector rants to have a spelling mistake in the title/

It's not obligatory but expected, as the 2nd line of my signature indicates.
I can't spell and you can't read, fair enough? or are you just trying to be a pedant.

Oh, and I started this "public sector rant" as I consider it to be the most selfish issue affecting the UK at present and deserves to be kept alive. I can accept any argumental exchange as long as it's not a direct attack on me.

atush

Originally Posted by Moby
The Governments job is to protect the fabric of society

This Government is not doing that. They have used the press to inflame the argument and set public and private sector workers against each other.

Do you honestly think we make our decisons about what WE think by listening to politicians?????

The only thing that sets me against the PS workers is their unions not telling the truth, and their strike actions. That is what is turning the private sector 'against' the public sector.

cyclonebri1

Moby wrote: »

I do find it rather incredulous that you have to hand all the figures to have the arrogance to start this thread and attack a whole section of society! There is no agreement....I repeat there is no agreement as to the the cause of the deficit, the level of it and most of all the solution to it. Some of us think this Government's strategy is totally wrong.....they are going much too far, too fast and destroying any chance of growth. President Obama in America is on a campaign saying things which are totally different to our lot.

Now of course you and I and everyone else has their own views on these issues....but let's be clear here these are political views based on our own view of the world and our value system.

Its frankly risible that someone can assume that they know the cause and the solution to this pension crisis and on top of that point the finger of blame at a huge swathe of their fellow workers. I suppose its the type of thing you do anonymously though on the internet after you've had your daily mail fix

What the hell are you on about??

I'm not even considering politics here, and I started this thread to let myself an others express their views.

What I am saying is that you, if you put yourself in the public sector?, expect me, who has always worked in the private sector, to foot the bill for your pension?.

Fine. I have done so far. But not any more, remember what I said, wake up and smell the coffee.



I don't know the answer to the pension crisis, in answer to your guilded question but I do know we cannot afford to pay yours.


I've been stuffed, now it's your turn.:eek:

The only true thing youv'e posted, and repeated, is that there "is no agreement". I agree.

And lastly, every thing on here is anonimous. Some take on a different charachter and become keyboard warriors etc. I hide behind nothing, and resent the fact that you sumise that I do. Attack or defend against what I've posted, but don't try to pigeon hole or streotype me if you please, I don't take the "mail".

real1314

zagfles wrote: »

Perhaps you need to learn to read. The update at the end says...

Hutton Report:-

"1.3 There have been significant reforms to the main public service pension schemes over the last decade, including increased pension ages for new members and a change in the indexation of pensions from RPI to CPI indexation. Some of these changes have reduced projected benefit payments in the coming decades. For the interim report the Commission asked the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) to project future public service pensions expenditure. It projected benefit payments to fall gradually to around 1.4 per cent of GDP in 2059-60, after peaking at 1.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in
2010-11."

Hmm, treasury changing statements to suit a political / idelogical viewpoint. I'd go with source data rather than re-hashed statements.