Translink/Metro Strike 30th November

saverbuyer

Snoozle wrote: »

Public sector pensions are salary linked, but are not necessarily final salary pensions. I obviously can't comment on all public sector pensions, but I know that my husband's is not final salary, it is a career average salary, and since starting salaries in the public sector tend to be low, this makes a big difference. He has almost ten years service behind him, so I'm guessing there is a strong possibility that anyone who joined the public sector in the last ten years does not have a final salary pension. As I say, I'm just taking a guess here, but I thought it worth mentioning, because I do feel that there is a lot of incorrect assumptions made about how generous the pensions are.

They are all index linked with guaranteed figures at retirement.

Most of the private sector has to BUY annuities.

saverbuyer

steveymp wrote: »

:rotfl:is really all I can say

RPI pay rises ? I am in the second year of a pay freeze which is a 5% pay cut due to inflation and we have been promised a maximum 1% pay rise over the following 2 years. I would love an RPI pay rise, since I'm so self centered after all but Uncle David will not give us one

You my friend are a very angry "Keyboard Warrior" I would get help for that, just make sure you identify yourself to the health service staff when you come to hospital so as you can get the "Special treatment" :rotfl:

No problem. Just you look out for number one. It doesn't matter about the new entrants with 1000's in student debt. As long as you can get your pay rise and the pension you "signed" up to 21 years ago.

Shift your debt onto your children, that's the way to do it. I mean money grows on trees, there is no national debt and as long as you're Ok now.

steveymp

saverbuyer wrote: »

No problem. Just you look out for number one. It doesn't matter about the new entrants with 1000's in student debt. As long as you can get your pay rise and the pension you "signed" up to 21 years ago.

Shift your debt onto your children, that's the way to do it. I mean money grows on trees, there is no national debt and as long as you're Ok now.

You need to learn to read and not just what you want to

I do not get pay rises and after 47 years of public service I'm sorry if I'm entitled to a pension that I was promised

The Government want to change the pension scheme, so change it for new employees, that way they know what they have signed up for and accept that in their contract:o

Oh and my pension should I live long enough to get it will be used to pay off my kids debts and student loans etc......

wifeforlife

I see nobody has provided the number work yet, I don't mind sharing with you all my pension details. I earn £19k, I work full time in NICS. When I hope to retire at 65 if I get that far, and after 44 years service, I hope to receive a lump sum of £35k and a pension of £5345 per year. This is the info from my annual pension statement which I received a few weeks ago.

I did strike, however have the lovely benefit of living with an economist who works in the private sector therefore hear and live with both sides of the debate everyday.

There is a human side to this, whether you agree to this or not. I made a decision to join the civil service and was well aware of the !!!! pay when I joined, however as a young mum and planning a family life, I decided the benefits of flexible working, and a secure pension was worth taking the hit for. I was looking to the future, I was planning for a secure future and living within my means. For all the tax and deductions I pay now I get no benefit for it.

As a household we are 2 adults, 2 kids, we pay our childcare costs of over £1000 a month in addition to the everyday costs we all share mortgage, rates, electric, oil, with no help from the Government. I don't begrudge anyone who cannot work and receives help, even though I don't get any. I'm just delighted I have a job and can contribute. I do take offence at people saying but we pay your wages, well I pay the wages of people in the private sector too. When I buy electricity I'm contributing to someones job in BudgetNI, when I pay my mortgage I'm contributing to someones job in a local bank, when I buy my groceries I'm keeping my local butcher, farm shop, newsagent in business. When I get my kids uniforms, haircuts, hobbies i'm contributing to someone remaining in employment.

It's not as simple as there isn't any money, what the majority of staff in the public sector are saying is surely change the pension policies but uphold the terms and conditions that were signed and agreed at the commencement of employment. My own pension is different from most as I joined in 2003 when the terms where changed, and I pay more already than my colleagues, I don't begrudge them it either it's down to timing, and I still believed the benefits outweighed the changes and the pay.

A.L.D.A

cathy2702 wrote: »

As a household we are 2 adults, 2 kids, we pay our childcare costs of over £1000 a month in addition to the everyday costs we all share mortgage, rates, electric, oil, with no help from the Government. I don't begrudge anyone who cannot work and receives help, even though I don't get any. I'm just delighted I have a job and can contribute. I do take offence at people saying but we pay your wages, well I pay the wages of people in the private sector too. When I buy electricity I'm contributing to someones job in BudgetNI, when I pay my mortgage I'm contributing to someones job in a local bank, when I buy my groceries I'm keeping my local butcher, farm shop, newsagent in business. When I get my kids uniforms, haircuts, hobbies i'm contributing to someone remaining in employment.

That model works well, as the more we can make money turn within our economy the better.

However to do this we need to produce enough goods and services to pay for what we import. So if we have imbalance the more the money spins the greater the trade deficit is likely to be.

I have a simplistic view and believe it is virtually a sin to have so many unemployed when there is obvious so much that needs to be done. Free markets and all that dogma is useful as a tool but in reality the Market does not do Public open space or anything that does not have a value in terms of money.

I have no hesitation blaming governments for constant financial mismanagement. But you see there are problems with that statement too, because we vote them in, and does austere government win many votes?

saverbuyer

cathy2702 wrote: »

.


As a household we are 2 adults, 2 kids, we pay our childcare costs of over £1000 a month in addition to the everyday costs we all share mortgage, rates, electric, oil, with no help from the Government. I don't begrudge anyone who cannot work and receives help, even though I don't get any. I'm just delighted I have a job and can contribute. I do take offence at people saying but we pay your wages, well I pay the wages of people in the private sector too. When I buy electricity I'm contributing to someones job in BudgetNI, when I pay my mortgage I'm contributing to someones job in a local bank, when I buy my groceries I'm keeping my local butcher, farm shop, newsagent in business. When I get my kids uniforms, haircuts, hobbies i'm contributing to someone remaining in employment.

I know what you are saying but people get confused between the chicken and the egg. The government didn't just create this money you spend out of thin air (well it does sometimes but that will complicate things). The money the government used to pay your wages, the money it will use to pay your pension, the money you give to all the people above and the money you "pay in tax" ALL came from the PRIVATE SECTOR. Every single penny. A company made up of private sector employees made something or did something someone in another country wanted to buy. They paid taxes on that profit, paid wages to the staff and some of that money has gone to pay for you.

On average public sector workers get paid more, get better pensions and better conditions in an organisation where it is virtually impossible to lose your job.

And it’s paid for by people with poorer conditions, poorer pay, worse pensions and in the middle of the worst recession in history they could be sacked with 90 day’s notice and a few weeks of wages in their pockets. And to top it all off THEY pay for all the above.
This was not the bankers fault, this was inevitable. This was never fundable.

A.L.D.A

saverbuyer wrote: »

This was not the bankers fault, this was inevitable. This was never fundable.

Agree I blame governments, but on the Banks they don't exactly come out of this looking either prudent or responsible. They were driven by commissions. No one forced them to give 110% mortgages or lend more to a second party to buy a property they had just helped someone else purchase, or to invest in all those really opaque derivatives. I often wonder what percentage of their lose was actually related to 'gambling'. Some had reserves of around 1%. Madness. Banks are the instrument that enabled the bogus growth patterns.

NAR

saverbuyer wrote: »

Sorry, in the private sector the figures are 40% of men and 30% of woman have a pension

Those are absolutely disgraceful numbers! So because the workers in the private sector won't join their pension schemes (and I am aware that a number of employers no longer offer them) they just want to attack public sector ones. Why don't you get your unions to fight for decent pension schemes, if current ones are poor, instead of just attacking ours?
Looks like the taxpayers will be paying out an awful lot of Pension Credit in years to come to current private sector employees. Why isn't there a big hue and cry about that?

wifeforlife

A.L.D.A wrote: »

That model works well, as the more we can make money turn within our economy the better.

However to do this we need to produce enough goods and services to pay for what we import. So if we have imbalance the more the money spins the greater the trade deficit is likely to be.

I have a simplistic view and believe it is virtually a sin to have so many unemployed when there is obvious so much that needs to be done. Free markets and all that dogma is useful as a tool but in reality the Market does not do Public open space or anything that does not have a value in terms of money.

I have no hesitation blaming governments for constant financial mismanagement. But you see there are problems with that statement too, because we vote them in, and does austere government win many votes?

I agree completely with you on this post! The thanks button didn't seem enough.

Snoozle

saverbuyer wrote: »

They are all index linked with guaranteed figures at retirement.

Most of the private sector has to BUY annuities.

I am well aware that most of the private sector has to buy annuities, but what you said in your previous post was

saverbuyer wrote: »

Salary linked also known as final salary.

and I was only pointing out that this is not necessarily the case.

When I worked full time, I paid into my then employer's pension scheme and it was more generous than my husband's public sector pension. I'm not claiming that this is the norm, I am aware that it is not, but it does happen.

saverbuyer wrote: »

Oh and while you were getting your RPI pay rises every year resulting in you getting paid more than your private sector friends those same friends (because they do not have a virtually unsackable position) will be lucky is they have but still have to pay taxes to pay for YOUR pension.

The problem with this is that a lot of public sector jobs don't really have an equivalent role in the private sector, so how can a true salary comparison be made? The most comparable jobs are probably the admin ones, and I don't doubt that the salaries are probably better in the public sector for this type of work. But how can we compare a nurse/teacher/radiographer etc's salary with someone in the private sector and then conclude that they are paid more? And a lot of private sector jobs are things like shop work, waitressing etc which sadly only pay minimum wage, so again its not exactly comparing like with like, since there are no public sector waiters (that I am aware of).