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I was going to write a long screed grumbling about pensions, the government’s attitude, the way it has moulded the public’s attitude, the stupidity of the unions and the targeted envy of the private sector and the whole ‘something for nothing culture’ that’s grown up over the years.
I started researching a few numbers:
Presumably then, over half the population are just expecting the state to keep them alive when they retire, without being involved in an occupational pension scheme in either sector, or in any shape or form.
Given that all Government effort has gone into demonizing the public sector, today’s strike is pointless. There is barely any support for it within the public sector, much less from without. Incredibly, the Government has managed to make relatively ordinary pensions look bad by showing how generous they are compared to wider pensions. Nobody seems inclined to ask why private sector pensions have been allowed to atrophy to the point that it is plausible to hold up the public sector as benefiting unfairly.
I for one can’t see the point in losing a day’s pay for the privilege of catching up with unpaid overtime at a later date. Better by far is to turn up and do exactly what we’re paid for. “Work to Rule” as it used to be called; just do the hours you’re paid for and go home. If you run out of stationery as they have in some of the rump Government Offices (for yes, they have closed, but the functions continue at a reduced level), don’t supply your own, don’t work unpaid overtime, only do precisely what you are paid for and no more. The entire system would grind to a halt far more effectively and then people would be able to gauge whether or not they want the services provided or not.
On the wider point concerning the necessary cuts in public expenditure generally, I’m not even against them, per se. There’s a lot of things the public sector does that it doesn’t need to do. It’s the wholesale, untargeted and frankly ideological self congratulation that underpins the unseemly glee behind the process. I’m not sure that I even object in principle to the haste the cuts; we knew before the General Election that they would needed. What galls is the feeling that no thought has been given to anything other than the actual overall numbers. It doesn’t matter where the cuts fall as long as they do fall.
I am not enjoying the process, but I recognise that it has to take place and that like many poor saps before me and for many more to come; I am just in the wrong place at the wrong time. What I do ask, though, or rather what I wish (and I realise that it’s a futile wish even as I make it) is that those people who are railing about so-called pampered civil and public servants take a look at precisely who did what to get us to this point. Who caused the economic downturn and how? Who voted for a government that spent more than it could afford? Who wanted the services, but not pay for them?
And who is telling you what to think and what is their agenda? Ladies and Gentlemen, we are being divided and conquered and no-one seems to care. Society is becoming ever more sectarian and we as long as this pertains, we won’t even get our Bread and Circuses.
On a final note: In 2008-09, the average income for pensioners in the UK was £29,328 for a couple, £15,808 for a single man and £13,728 for a single woman.
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1274
If you think that a teacher, with the “best” provisioned pensions in the public sector is getting too much, I submit the following. Go away and check:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13775278
I started researching a few numbers:
37% of women and 42% of men of working age are accruing rights in private pension plans. In 2009 there were 3.6 million people in private sector pension schemes and 5.4 million members of public sector schemes.
The number of people in work in 2011 is around the 29.2 million mark, of whom about 6 million are in the public sector.
Presumably then, over half the population are just expecting the state to keep them alive when they retire, without being involved in an occupational pension scheme in either sector, or in any shape or form.
Given that all Government effort has gone into demonizing the public sector, today’s strike is pointless. There is barely any support for it within the public sector, much less from without. Incredibly, the Government has managed to make relatively ordinary pensions look bad by showing how generous they are compared to wider pensions. Nobody seems inclined to ask why private sector pensions have been allowed to atrophy to the point that it is plausible to hold up the public sector as benefiting unfairly.
I for one can’t see the point in losing a day’s pay for the privilege of catching up with unpaid overtime at a later date. Better by far is to turn up and do exactly what we’re paid for. “Work to Rule” as it used to be called; just do the hours you’re paid for and go home. If you run out of stationery as they have in some of the rump Government Offices (for yes, they have closed, but the functions continue at a reduced level), don’t supply your own, don’t work unpaid overtime, only do precisely what you are paid for and no more. The entire system would grind to a halt far more effectively and then people would be able to gauge whether or not they want the services provided or not.
On the wider point concerning the necessary cuts in public expenditure generally, I’m not even against them, per se. There’s a lot of things the public sector does that it doesn’t need to do. It’s the wholesale, untargeted and frankly ideological self congratulation that underpins the unseemly glee behind the process. I’m not sure that I even object in principle to the haste the cuts; we knew before the General Election that they would needed. What galls is the feeling that no thought has been given to anything other than the actual overall numbers. It doesn’t matter where the cuts fall as long as they do fall.
I am not enjoying the process, but I recognise that it has to take place and that like many poor saps before me and for many more to come; I am just in the wrong place at the wrong time. What I do ask, though, or rather what I wish (and I realise that it’s a futile wish even as I make it) is that those people who are railing about so-called pampered civil and public servants take a look at precisely who did what to get us to this point. Who caused the economic downturn and how? Who voted for a government that spent more than it could afford? Who wanted the services, but not pay for them?
And who is telling you what to think and what is their agenda? Ladies and Gentlemen, we are being divided and conquered and no-one seems to care. Society is becoming ever more sectarian and we as long as this pertains, we won’t even get our Bread and Circuses.
On a final note: In 2008-09, the average income for pensioners in the UK was £29,328 for a couple, £15,808 for a single man and £13,728 for a single woman.
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1274
If you think that a teacher, with the “best” provisioned pensions in the public sector is getting too much, I submit the following. Go away and check:
The Hutton report found the average pension payments - including workers and dependents - in 2009-10 were as follows:
• Local government worker: £4,052
• NHS worker: £7,234
• Civil servant: £6,199
• Teacher: £9,806
• Member of armed forces: £7,722
It concluded that 10% of public sector workers received annual pensions of £17,000 or above, with retired policemen and fire officers most represented in this category compared to other sections of the workforce. It found that 1% of workers got payouts of £37,000 a year - two thirds of those were NHS doctors and consultants.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13775278