Another bunch of public sector employess on strike.....

[BLOCK F]

Sorry, got it wrong - if the government lose the Brexit vote they will be covered in glory and rule forever!

Some Tories are for staying in and some for out.
Personally, as a Tory voter, I am with the stay in brigade.

 

[JC Footy Genius]

Median full-time gross weekly earnings for public and private sectors, UK, April 1997 to 2015

http://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentand...rveyofhoursandearnings/2015provisionalresults

 

[BLOCK F]

Here goes. I am a public sector worker. Since the Conservatives came into power/coalition I have had a pay freeze, which means this is now into its sixth year. Run alongside that the government has indulged in corporate bullying to try and remove the terms and conditions that I signed up to in 1992. I am holding the line for now but I don't know how much longer I shall be able to do so. Other payments have also been culled in that time.

My pension has also been amended and it is not in my favour. I am prepared to take the hit for that, as I acknowledge that I was on a very good pension scheme in the first instance and my current option, while inferior, is still better than most.

I have had the option to strike several times in that period. I have never done so. The reason for this is that the government has an effective strategy in place for ensuring that any strike in my department is ineffective and will go unnoticed. The government is also adept at painting public sector workers as grasping and protectionist so I would have little in the way of public sympathy. As such, it's not worth my losing pay for a strike that would have no effect.

But here's the thing. A quick look at my P60s over the years shows that I am now 20% down on where I was in 2010. That's 20%! Is it really so unreasonable for public sector workers to seek redress against that kind of pay reduction? When I joined I was under the impression that the deal was that I would never be rich but that the pension would ultimately offset lost earnings over the course of my career. Basic security if you will. Now we are basically being asked to be poor but with precious little benefit at the end of a career of public service. I am under no illusion. My employer would sooner force me out, regardless of my acquired experience, simply because I am older and therefore more expensive. They would sooner bring in inexperienced staff on wretched new contracts.

Solidarity brothers!

Jim, sorry to hear about your personal situation. May I ask what job you do?
Hasn't been all pain for the public sector and gain for the private though. Have a look at JC Footy's post.

 

[glasfryn]

The current government will be hugely discredited and badly damaged if they lose the Brexit vote. They might not find it as easy to ride rough-shod over the electorate as they hope; indeed they might not even survive (although that last point is probably a bit too much to hope for).

you just made my day thinking about that makes me very happy

 

[whitestrat]

Interesting graph, but how many of the low paid public sector workers in 1997 (refuse collectors, cleaners, admin) have been outsourced to private companies during this time, thus reclassified as private sector workers. If you take these out I bet the graph looks very different!

 

[Lifelong Supporter]

My daughter joined the civil service from Uni 6 years ago and has had three promotions. She is now earning significantly above average earnings and has applied for another promotion.

My eldest daughter joined the service from Uni 9 years ago and has had 3 promotions. She joined after a year working for an international company where working conditions and expectations were far more challenging than public service and caused her to leave. It was a good experience for her !!

Both work hard and have been rewarded.

However I was in the Service for 38 years and left 5 years ago having had no effective pay rise for over 5 years. If I had stayed there would have been no rise until now with work becoming increasingly stressful. I now though receive a generous pension.

Perhaps it can depend on who and where you are.

 

[jimhigham]

Jim, sorry to hear about your personal situation. May I ask what job you do?
Hasn't been all pain for the public sector and gain for the private though. Have a look at JC Footy's post.

I quite understand that the private sector has also had it tough in many respects and I wasn't seeking to suggest that everything was rosy on that side of the fence. I have good friends working privately that have suffered greater falls in income than I've experienced. I was simply trying to defend my own corner, as I do get frustrated when I am portrayed as some sort of idler, leech or militant. I'm just a working chap like anybody else trying to keep a roof over my family's head and food on the table. I can't pretend that I am in penury but there have been a lot of domestic cutbacks over the last few years.

As for my work? I'll private message you...

 

[Bodian]

Jim, sorry to hear about your personal situation. May I ask what job you do?
Hasn't been all pain for the public sector and gain for the private though. Have a look at JC Footy's post.

Basically, if you get rid of much of the lower paid public sector workers - either through 'outsourcing' or through redundancies and/or conversions to lower hours/grades - then the median will go up, even though the vast majority of those still in public sector work will not have actually had any actual pay rise.

My basic salary has been frozen for 6-7 years now (although we did have one small rise last year - and I think we're getting a whole 1% this year - which will be offset by changes in pension and national insurance, so will actually be a take home decrease). And in that time I have also had to go from 5 days to 4 to save my job from going altogether.

So, if you looked at the figures externally, you could say - ah, his weekly earnings have gone up slightly over the last 7 years - my take home pay has actually gone down by around 20% - because I (like many others) don't actually get a week's earnings any more. If you then factor in inflation, it's probably a reduction of around 25%.

And many of us are like this.

 

[darkwolf666]

.....oh yes, and don't forget the pound will drop to near zero, we won't be able to buy cars from Germany, we won't be allowed to sell anything to anyone in Europe, the economy will collapse, there'll be plagues of locusts, and - best of all - some of the people who say they'll leave Britain if we leave the EU will actually do it!

As long as they aren't European locusts, as they won't be allowed in!

 

[wellquickwoody]

Here goes. I am a public sector worker. Since the Conservatives came into power/coalition I have had a pay freeze, which means this is now into its sixth year. Run alongside that the government has indulged in corporate bullying to try and remove the terms and conditions that I signed up to in 1992. I am holding the line for now but I don't know how much longer I shall be able to do so. Other payments have also been culled in that time.

My pension has also been amended and it is not in my favour. I am prepared to take the hit for that, as I acknowledge that I was on a very good pension scheme in the first instance and my current option, while inferior, is still better than most.

I have had the option to strike several times in that period. I have never done so. The reason for this is that the government has an effective strategy in place for ensuring that any strike in my department is ineffective and will go unnoticed. The government is also adept at painting public sector workers as grasping and protectionist so I would have little in the way of public sympathy. As such, it's not worth my losing pay for a strike that would have no effect.

But here's the thing. A quick look at my P60s over the years shows that I am now 20% down on where I was in 2010. That's 20%! Is it really so unreasonable for public sector workers to seek redress against that kind of pay reduction? When I joined I was under the impression that the deal was that I would never be rich but that the pension would ultimately offset lost earnings over the course of my career. Basic security if you will. Now we are basically being asked to be poor but with precious little benefit at the end of a career of public service. I am under no illusion. My employer would sooner force me out, regardless of my acquired experience, simply because I am older and therefore more expensive. They would sooner bring in inexperienced staff on wretched new contracts.

Solidarity brothers!

Not too different from the private sector then? And don't anybody attempt to muddy the waters by bringing in the bankers as a normal example of the private sector.

 

[jimhigham]

Not too different from the private sector then? And don't anybody attempt to muddy the waters by bringing in the bankers as a normal example of the private sector.

I refer you to my reply at #47. There's no need for us to be in competition over this.