Public Sector Walk out

[Shadow]

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis is predicting that the forthcoming strikes will be the biggest for 100 years as the Coalition unviels its plans to revise public sector pensions.

I was wondering what peoples views on this are?

When I read articles about this it makes it sound as if public sector workers are rolling in it and all getting these huge pensions for nowt but thats not the case at all as we see it.Ive been a public sector worker and Mr Shads still is.Many of these workers are traditionally women and many,many are not well paid.The workers do pay a percentage of their salary monthly towards their pensions-currently from 5 to 8.5 percent depending on salary.

Ive not worked in the Private secetor so Im not sure of what these employees pay towards their pensions

[Deleted]

There is a myth that everyone in the public sector have a cushy job and weel paid.
My ex was/is in senior management in the DWP. She surprised me how little her AA's got. I had a bigger surprise for the bitch

[heatonharrier]

There really is no comparison Shadow. Without question the private sector pensions, except for very senior people in the organisation, cannot hold a candle to the public sector.
I'm now 60 and retired from local government 14 years ago with a lump sum and an index linked monthly pension. There is no way under the sun that a private sector employer could have offered the deal available to me either then or now.
That said, the people I know who remained in local government saw their offers diminish year on year but even today they're significantly better than the private sector.
It begs the question, why should public sector staff get a better deal than those in the private sector and really there's no answer to that. It's just the way it's always been which is why public sector work was always seen as the better option. Do your time. Keep your head down and your nose clean. Then retire with a nice guaranteed pension worth a hell of a lot more than your oppos in the private sector. In the main the salaries lagged a little behind the private sector but the incentive was the pension - and of course the fact that as non-producers there were never manufacturing targets or meaningful budgets to meet. Those who didn't keep their noses clean usually ended up being redeployed or being bought off to avoid embarrassment and public scrutiny, but either way there was no financial penalty. Not so in the private sector where you sank or swam.
NALGO union reps were employed in the various departments with paid time off for their union duties and rarely if ever rocked the boat. I can remember one group of staff who decided to resign from NALGO and join the GMB who had full time salaried union staff. The NALGO reps were near apoplectic at the prospect as the GMB reps did not have to walk the delicate line between members and employers and were never ever in the employers pocket. It was the nearest I've ever seen to anarchy in Local Government, till today of course. But realistically the gravy train has to come to a halt at some point and it looks as though that point has been reached.
This is a link to a page which shows just how the private sector pensions have suffered, so I suppose Joe Public will not be too happy if the public sector strike just because they're going to suffer in the same way. Thin ice if you ask me and I can't imagine they'll get much support if they follow that route.

www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1278

Hope the link works.

[Ann1]

The only problem I have with all this is, why do public sector workers expect to still retire at 60, when the age for everyone else is going up? What makes them a special case? I don't happen to agree with the age rise, but if it has to happen, then it should be for everyone!!

[Shadow]

Very interesting post Heatonharrier-thank you

I have to admit weve not really paid a great deal of attention to the Pension scheme-other than pay our monthly amounts in but obviously its coming to our attention now.I wonder if this will make people more reluctant to work in the Public sector if the incentive of a bigger pension isnt there then?

Although having said that certainly as far as Private care homes etc go,wages are often less also.And then all of this impacts on the services being given,such as less motivated and less well trained staff being employed

[Banshee]

As far as I know us in the pulic sector are expected to retire at same age as everyone else. I read this week about Unision strikes for end of month but cant undestad why it doesnt apply to all. I know we voting on strikes for later in the year, but I feel that we either all in one Unison all not. Dont know why we seperating the strikes.

[Shadow]

Mr Shads hasnt heard anything about it either

And yet my Brother-in-law has-hes employed by the council-Mr Shads the NHS

[Banshee]

Jun 18, 2011 18:10:40 GMT 1 Shadow said:

Mr Shads hasnt heard anything about it either

And yet my Brother-in-law has-hes employed by the council-Mr Shads the NHS

I'm council and would prefer that all public sector workers were in this together.

[Shadow]

Well surely thats the principle behind a union isnt it?

Whats the point of only some Unison members taking action

I have to say that over the years Ive found them disappointing-promise much but dont deliver too much-especially when it comes to giving support to its members.

[Ann1]

According to this, public sector workers retire at 60, apart from new recruits. TBH, I don't think they should raise it for anyone, it's all well and good if you've got a sit down office job, but not if the work is physical or standing up all day!!

uk.news.yahoo.com/public-sector-retirement-age-rise-66-092610918.html