War of words over pension strikes

[Win2Win Racing]

Public sector strikes next week could cost the UK £500m and lead to job losses, say ministers - as unions accuse them of "fantasy economics".

More... (http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-politics-15871340)

[Win2Win]

Unions still living in cloud cuckoo land .... and only a minority of members voted :doh

[barneymather]

More than 12,000 former civil servants receive pensions of over £50k a year, and there will obviously be a much larger number of staff retiring on lower annual amounts but which are still more than many or most people earn for a 5 day week.

It used to be the case that wages in the public sector were lower than the private sector (I've worked in both), however this was compensated in part by a good pension as well as more job stability.

However, public sector staff now earn more than those in the private sector, and considering the enormous liabilities public sector pension schemes are generating, something has to be done to rein in the cost.

I saw a stroppy teacher on the news the other night and she was (literally) shouting at the reporter that her profession's pension scheme is not unsustainable. I'd love to know why the likes of this teacher and union wallahs - who love to pick a fight with governments, especially if the Tories are in power - know more than independent experts who've done the math, as the Yanks say. Needless to say, union bosses will still receive a hefty pension when they retire regardless of what happens to their members.

A friend works for the NHS on a modest salary and he feels the pension changes are reasonable, and certainly teachers pay a lot less than police officers into their pension schemes. A good teacher is worth their weight in gold, but far too many go into the profession for the wrong reasons - the pension, long holidays, and not having a boss to tell you what to do. Yes, I'm sure teaching is stressful at times, but so is working in a call centre and there are people with good degrees working in these places and the terms and conditions will be atrocious compared to those teachers receive.

Now pension changes are imminent, some public sector staff (a minority it should be noted) have started throwing their toys out of the pram and being encouraged greatly by the aforementioned union bosses who seem to think there's an endless supply of money out there to satisfy their wishes, or, to be more accurate, their political aims.

I can see a test case on public sector pension schemes being brought by private sector staff. To me, the argument is simple and convincing: if you work in the private sector, you earn less than your counterparts in the public sector, however you have to pay (via your taxes) to fund generous pensions for public sector staff whilst receiving a fraction of this pension yourself, which is paid from your own pocket. I'd like to hear a lawyer convince a judge that this is a fair and just scenario. This isn't about setting worker against worker, but creating a level paying field for all workers.

[Win2Win]

Anyone know what qualifications these union bosses have? Most of them seem as thick a doo-doo and a gang of 10 of them would have problems changing a light bulb :lickme:lickme:lickme:lickme:lickme:lickme:lickme:lickme:lickme:lickme