Public Sector Pension Debate

The following figures and discussion do not take into effect growth and inflation but represent a simplistic, though reasonably realistic view of the pension debate.

In order to achieve a pension of, say £20,000 it is necessary to have a pension fund of £400,000. During as 40 year working life is would be necessary to pay the equivalent to £10000 per year which would be approximately 10% of a £40,000 salary.

In the private sector, where in many cases employees have also suffered a pay freeze for 2 or 3 years, large numbers of employees have had their final salary pension schemes closed and frozen and only money purchase schemes made available.

Those who have had their final salary schemes left open have had to pay increased contributions to safeguard their final pension. In my case my contributions went from 8% to 13%.

The public sector in the past traditionally had lower wages and generous pension with low contributions (in many cases zero contributions). The lower wages argument is no longer valid.  For example any movement in national minimum wage will not affect public sector workers  as most have national agreements well in excess of the national minimum wage.

The argument that pensions should be exceptionally attractive is no longer relevant as work pressures in the private sector are much higher than they were and working longer for their pensions is not an attractive proposition.

The Public Sector can no longer rely on the private sector to safeguard their futures by paying higher taxes.

It is time the public sector workers got away from political and union rhetoric and dogma and started to think pragmatically and logically about the general situation. There is no such thing as “Government Money” – it is our money, earned by us and given to the government to look after our infrastructure and needs while we generate more money.

Yes, these current measures are unpleasant but will have to be made as we, the general public and silent majority are no longer prepared to reduce our disposable income for the public sector workers.

So come on you silent majority and make your voices heard. STAND UP AND PROTECT our FUTURES and let these who would like to blackmail us into submission that they have to contribute the same way as the rest of the British workers.

Pensions

The lunatic fringe are at it again!!! When will people learn that there is no money left in the safe. Unions are calling for strike action against changes to the public sector pensions. What the hell do they think has been going on in the private sector. My contributions went up from 8% to 13% and they are complaining about 6% to 9%. We have had a pay freeze for 3 years also. I read a statement the the Local Government Pension scheme is not funded by the taxpayers but by underlying investments of employees and employers contributions. Where do they think the employers portion comes from and do they think the employees will not want more basic pay if forced to pay additional contributions? The rest of the public will be expected to cough up in both cases.

The public sector used to have low wages and that is why they were protected with generous pension schemes. They are no longer the lowest paid in society. Few of them would work for the wages of carers working for Southern Cross, for example, let alone do the work they have to do and almost none of those workers will get a pension at all.

Of the 6.2 million workers in the public sector it expected that .75 million will come out on strike and try to hold the country to ransom.

Are the other 23.1 million workers going to let them do this? Probably. But there will come a time when the Silent Majority will unite and rebel and there will be a backlash against those who are not prepared to be "in it together".

Spread the word, unite the Silent Majority, show you really care. No action other than send a link to this blog to ALL your friends. One day we will be able to be a force for the good.

More PUBLIC SERVANT strikes planned

Here we go again. Yet minority another group of public servants holding the taxpayers to ransom because they have the power ( but absolutely not the right ) to do so.

A 'day of action' on Thursday has been planned by the University and College Union (UCU). Members are angry at the plans to raise retirement age, increase contributions and closure of their final salary scheme.

Where have these "academics" been living for the last 10 years. MILLIONS of private sector workers have had to put up with these changes and have not been able to disrupt the country because they are not in unions, or their employers do not recognise unions. These millions who have suffered are the ones paying the salaries and a large percentage of the pensions that these academics enjoy.

Do they really expect 20 million people to put their hands in their pockets and pay them more out of sympathy? We really can not afford to have our earnings milked anymore by these minority groups. 

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said "University staff really value their pension rights and have made their views of the detrimental changes crystal clear" .

What the hell does she think the rest of us feel about having to pay more for our pensions, having them reduced and so having to work longer?

It is now a fact that pensions in the PUBLIC SECTOR are greater than those in the PRIVATE SECTOR.

Come on, you SILENT MAJORITY for your own sakes speak up now. Make your feelings known and tell these idiots that they can not expect us to fund them any more.

Other unions, including the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, are preparing to ballot members on possible strike action over pensions.

IF WE DON'T MAKE OUR VIEWS CLEAR THEY WILL TAKE US ALL FOR A RIDE.

Write to your MP's, tweet on twitter, comment on BLOGS, write to your local press. Do not sit at home and think "it doesn't really affect me". Of course it does and is part of the reason we are less well of than before and our standard of living will go down at the expense of those who are paid to serve the public.

I mentioned in my last blog the idea that there might be "food riots". This latest type of selfishness is much more likely to result in civil unrest than the cost of food increasing