Public Sector Pension Strikes – A JOKE !

Old_Slaphead

MikeR71 wrote: »

But the least the government can do is to not keep screwing the public sector

So after 15 years of the government firehosing money at the public sector you're peeved because the current administration is trying to get things back to what the country can afford ???

MikeR71

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

So after 15 years of the government firehosing money at the public sector you're peeved because the current administration is trying to get things back to what the country can afford ???

In my experience, the government always manages to find money when it needs to. They tell us there is no money, but I bet if tomorrow there is a war they want to fight they will miraculously discover billions, or if they want to bail out some EU state, or send aid somewhere to the 3rd world.

Anyway, the argument here is not denying the economic crisis, but how to pay for it. I agree that the public sector like everyone else has to pay as this is the sector which the government can easily control and squeeze. It's all fine to say the government wants to get the money back, but the cost of living has risen and many families can not make ends meet as it is.

My answer is the government should cut unnecessary public sector jobs if that saves them money, but also look elsewhere to increase income, like higher tax for thousands of people earning over £100k. What benefit is there in squeezing nurses who earn less than £20k with all the other household expenses that will rise in 2012? The more you earn, the more you pay. It works in Scandinavian countries which has much higher standards of living.

The way things are going, the rich will get richer and the middle will get poorer, like some Balkan state. That is really not what the Britain of 21st century should be like.

meercatsunited

people who save lives and risk their own: doctors, definitely nurses, paramedics, firemen, some police etc deserve a decent pension.

the rest council workers, teachers, dustbinmen, street cleaners etc doing routine stuff should have no more than anyone can achieve paying into a pension fund for our working lives...after all they are no different or better than the rest of us.

noticed they held up all the real workers of this country in birmingham with no consideration for anyone but themselves.

someone said where would we be without unions, well we are no longer in the dickens era and they are now no more use than a chocolate teapot.

who remembers the repeated strikes of 60's 70's, what did it achieve, lots of people became unemployed and the unions made lots of money. :beer:

public sector accept the changes we the public do not support you

The_Angry_Jock

MikeR71 wrote: »

My answer is the government should cut unnecessary public sector jobs if that saves them money, but also look elsewhere to increase income, like higher tax for thousands of people earning over £100k. What benefit is there in squeezing nurses who earn less than £20k with all the other household expenses that will rise in 2012?.

The Government won't generate anywhere near as much money as you think by taxing people in that wage bracket.

Scandanavian countries are fairing better because they were prudent with their spending, look at Norway and it's oil revenue, all that money just sits in the bank for a rainy day because they understand it's a finite source of income (and a bit of a bonus).

For too long this country has just deferred it's problems, refusing to take responsibility, egged on by a large and selfish population (everyone, not just the PS). It's time they just buckle down and get on with it, forget all this popularity contest of ridiculous soundbites and empty promises. In these times we need honesty and perseverence.

I would accept a short/medium term increase in tax to clear our debts, but for that I'd like to see a complete rebuild of the Government and everything it does ie combine Income Tax & NI, 1 universal means tested benefit, rationalisation of the armed forces, reduction of quangos...

Ultimately, once things have settled they could introduce a much lower, single, income tax which would give us and our children and grandchildren more money in our pocket as would stimulate private investment. However, aslong as we have the albatross of debt and commitments hanging round our necks we'll just have to go onto Asda Smart Price bread for the foreseeable future.

Old_Slaphead

Weird_Nev wrote: »

No. They didn't get the chance. The government simply refused to pay the agreed Police pay rise - which was sub inflation at the time of negotiation and even more so by the time it came to pay. They delayed and deferred, eventually paying the higher rate (1.5% in times of 3-4% inflation) 10 months late.

So you're saying these reports are wrong ?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/7850089/Pay-freeze-wont-kick-in-until-September-2011-for-nearly-1m-public-sector-workers.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7672188.stm

Andy_L

jenniferfluff29 wrote: »

Does that mean that armed forces wages will be cut so they can make up the extra 3% that they will need to pay into their pension? Seems unfair if the rest of the PS have to pay but they don't.

Sort of. They are exempt from the current restructuring (as it would be politically impossible to reform their system whilst they are at war) however the abatement that is made to their salary is based on how much better their pension is than other schemes. As the other schemes get worse (whilst their remains the same) that abatement will semi-automatically increase

Andy_L

paparossco wrote: »

The NHS scheme requires the members to fund any shortfall so if the £2bn surplus turns into a shortfall the contributions automatically go up to cover it.

AIUI the contributions only increase to cover shortfalls for pensions accrued in-year, they don't go up to cover any shortfalls to cover past pension accrual

Andy_L

Moby wrote: »

Good point Anglicanpat. The Government have given no indication whatsoever that the extra revenue taken from the pension changes will go back into the pension pots! Why is that????

because, except for LGPS & a few niche schemes, there is no pension pot.

dunstonh

inally, we are talking about teachers, nurses, careworkers here. Ask yourselves, do these people do an important job or not?

Really? The public sector is not just made up of them.

You asked if the public sector created the financial crisis (as you clearly think they didnt). However, yes, they public sector was partly responsible to blame. The regulators are public sector. They failed to regulate correctly. The Govt is public sector and they failed to deal with the issues.

Public sector is more than just teachers and nurses.

because many in the private sector will get pensions that are worth millions

As does the inflated public sector.

Moby

dunstonh wrote: »

Really? The public sector is not just made up of them.

You asked if the public sector created the financial crisis (as you clearly think they didnt). However, yes, they public sector was partly responsible to blame. The regulators are public sector. They failed to regulate correctly. The Govt is public sector and they failed to deal with the issues.

Public sector is more than just teachers and nurses.



As does the inflated public sector.

Really?? the privately owned banks didn't indulge themselves in a feeding frenzy of speculation and bad debt then??
Then they didn't draw up the drawbridge and refuse to lend further money thereby leading to the financial crisis that forced the Govmt to bail them out with our money. So none of that happened.....it must be a bad dream I'm having!