Nail on head. If people don't like the job in the private sector they should apply for a job in the public sector; similarly, if they don't like the job in the public sector they should apply to the private sector. There is no point anyone from either side complaining about what the conditions were at a carefully selected date in the past; look at conditions now, and make your choice.
(The golden age for public sector pensions was about 1997-2015, after Gordon Brown had changed the dividends that made private sector final salary pensions untenable, but before anyone in government spotted that public sector workers had such a vast advantage. They have since changed the system so that private sector employees get 3% of salary paid as an employer bonus to their pension while public sector workers still get (I'm told) a little more than that.)
That’s very relevant about the taking away of tax credits reclaims on DB pension schemes. Also the dot.com crash and people living far longer.