A public sector employee's point of view...

[Kudos]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Probably not. Don't they get a Xmas shopping day?

[Ozzie Osmond]

Kudos said:

Tell us what your pension is going to be?

Presumably 2/3 of career average salary if the OP achieves a lifetime of employment with HMRC. So in round numbers £20,000 p.a. in today's money. Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

[Tyre Smoke]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Presumably 2/3 of career average salary if the OP achieves a lifetime of employment with HMRC. So in round numbers £20,000 p.a. in today's money. Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

And index linked of course!

Whinging SCUM!

[null]

Who in the private sector has negotiated a 40 year contract on their pension? I don't even have a pension!

fk off!

[chris watton]

Getragdogleg said:

My problem with the whole thing is that I feel the public sector seems to exist to drain me of money in ways I could not imagine.

All the while producing nothing and just being a drain on society as we pay taxes to keep a bloated sector paid while they dream up ways to hinder my progress (highways departments) , regulate me more (health and safety/working time directives/compulsory record keeping) and tax me more.

I feel the same at times, we contribute to the public sector by actually producing wealth, and then some areas in the public sector are then paid to make my life more difficult!

Sometimes I feel that some public sector workers are like children - they have no idea what it's like outside their little socialist world - they simply demand stuff because they 'deserve it' - like a lot teenagers....

[thinfourth2]

Can i just add my bit before we start screaming kill the poor oh look at me in the private sector and i get 1 day off a year work a 25 hour day and get paid 1 mouldy turnip are't I fking wonderful.













Why is the country skint?



As a small group of fkwits borrowed billions and billions to try and keep themselves in a job by buying our votes.




And this sutuation isn't unique to the labour party or the UK




Right back to saying how poor we are in the private sector

[gtdc]

bigandclever said:

Don't forget your 30 days holiday plus your 10.5 public and privilege days. Or, as I like to call it, 2 working months not actually working.

ETA For clarity, in the OP's situation (HMRC site: Generous leave allowance. 22 days increasing to 25 after a year service and 30 days after ten years service.)

Plus the days off through flexi time.

[Tuscan Rat]

I work in the Public sector and won't be on strike today !!

[Cleckheatonlock]

I work full time in order to pay my bills. I also work part time at weekends in order to live. This is partly due to personal circumstances but even with these two jobs combined my income is just over £20k

I pay mortgage, all my bills, maintenance and I get no benefits at all. My ex does to support her and my daughter but that is through no choice of mine.

I haven't paid into my pension for 10 years because I cannot afford it! I drive a nail, haven't had a holiday, live in a sensible house bought for sensible money. I have debt but do not live extravagently or beyond my means, yet I have to fund work shy scum because thay have lost a bit of their pension entitlement. Boo fking hoo.

I am from a staunchly labour family in a distinctly red part of the country. My dad will not vote Tory, but he REFUSES to vote for the labour party after the debacle that we have been left with

An example of their incompetence is the child tax credit. When my daughter was born you got additional tax allowance so that you had more money when you had children. Why employ thousands of patsies to implement a complicated system where everybody pays their tax to then claim it back based upon estimating what they are going to earn next year? Add to this the IT infrastructure and software that didn't keep the changes in circumstances that you rung up to report and you get a debacle that needs more non-jobs to fix

That is why the public sector grew so much under Winky and Bliar, that is why we cannot afford it any more and the sooner you realise it the better

We need redundancies, we need simplification of the tax system , we need to lose all the ridiculous jobs

Most of all we need to lose the commie dinosaurs that are intent on bankrupting us all. Where communism says that we should all be equal I don't think it means that we should all end up with absolutely NOTHING.

[thinfourth2]

Tuscan Rat said:

I work in the Public sector and won't be on strike today !!

that must be terrible the only day you have to work this year and it is on a strike day you lefty scumbag who is paid a million pounds a day for sitting at a desk filling in forms


You make me sick

[okgo]

3.5% vs 20%??????????????

fking dream world.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Cleckheatonlock said:

We need redundancies, we need simplification of the tax system , we need to lose all the ridiculous jobs

Yup

Cleckheatonlock said:

Most of all we need to lose the commie dinosaurs that are intent on bankrupting us all. Where communism says that we should all be equal I don't think it means that we should all end up with absolutely NOTHING.

Indeed. The issue is ultimately one of common sense and has little to do with left or right. Benefits as a lifestyle choice just isn't on!

[anonymous-user]

the fact is the deals being made in the different public sector departments vary wildly. some public sector departments are set to take far more of a kicking than others. Ask any level headed civil servant rather than a militant "blame the bankers" menatalist if they are prepared to;

- take a pay freeze for five years;
- pay more into their pension;
- work till they are 68;
- take a hit on their lump sum upon retirement;
- take on the extra work that will be left following redundancies;

and all of them will say yes to one, maybe two or even three,, but surely even the most powerfully built, 335d(mapped) driving comapny director can see that all five, at the same time, may not be considered fair if "we're all in this together"....

and yes i appreciate that people made redundant are in a worse position and i feel for them but not every public sector worker is an obese, frequently ill benefits clerk with an o-level in basket weaving just like not every private sector employee is a powerfully built.....

[Blue Cat]

Just playing devil’s advocate here.

But reading this threat, a lot of people are saying “life isn’t fair, so just suck it up”
but at the same time saying we in the private sector are suffering so the public sector should suffer as well, that's only fair!

Hey I lost my pension in the recent crisis, so you should as well. I haven’t had a pay rise, so you shouldn’t too. I just lost my leg, so I’m going to chop yours off as well.

The fact is, the public sector had a work contract and the Government is trying to change that contract, they don’t like it, so they have a right to put up a fight.

I run my own business and I take all the risks and rewards that come with that. But that is my choice. A lot of people joined the public service because of the risks and rewards that offered, and that has now changed for the worse and they wish to protest about it.

We in the public sector can also protest if we don’t like something, so lets not pretend we can’t – why we don’t is because of the fear of the consequences.

[Big E 118]

OP, thanks for putting up your opinion but I think from the replies you'll see how little empathy most people have for the strikes.

Everyone has to take a hit in the current economic climate if you want things to get better in the long run. I know very few people in the private sector who have had pay rises over the last couple of years and private pensions have taken a massive hit.

I haven't seen anyone explain how this country can continue to fund the public sector in it's current state (including the Labour party). If anyone can come up with a realistic long term solution I'm sure the general public would listen, until then go back to work and tighten your belts a bit.

[Countdown]

bigandclever said:

Don't forget your 30 days holiday plus your 10.5 public and privilege days. Or, as I like to call it, 2 working months not actually working.

ETA For clarity, in the OP's situation (HMRC site: Generous leave allowance. 22 days increasing to 25 after a year service and 30 days after ten years service.)

The 10.5 "Public & priviledge" days are mainly bank holidays which the private sector also get. Starting leave is 22 days which is the legal minimum which employees in the private sector also get. It doesn't go up to 25 days after 1 year (AFAIAA) it would go up by 5 days after 5 years' service and then another 5 days after 10 years service. helps with recruitment & retention

gtdc said:

Plus the days off through flexi time.

I'm fairly sure flexi is available in the Private sector Fact is - sometimes you're busy, sometimes you're not. Isn't the standard PH response to working hours something like this

"Yeah...sometimes I'm working 27 hours a day 8 days a week, other days I stroll in at 12, boink the Secretary for 5 minutes and fk off to the Golf Couse in my Jaaaaaaaag... flexitime shirley ? "

[ewenm]

pablo said:

the fact is the deals being made in the different public sector departments vary wildly. some public sector departments are set to take far more of a kicking than others. Ask any level headed civil servant rather than a militant "blame the bankers" menatalist if they are prepared to;

- take a pay freeze for five years;
- pay more into their pension;
- work till they are 68;
- take a hit on their lump sum upon retirement;
- take on the extra work that will be left following redundancies;

and all of them will say yes to one, maybe two or even three,, but surely even the most powerfully built, 335d(mapped) driving comapny director can see that all five, at the same time, may not be considered fair if "we're all in this together"....

and yes i appreciate that people made redundant are in a worse position and i feel for them but not every public sector worker is an obese, frequently ill benefits clerk with an o-level in basket weaving just like not every private sector employee is a powerfully built.....

The counter argument to that is that all of those have already happened in the private sector and the "we're all in this together" bit is the public sector catching up with those changes. Hence little sympathy from those who have already been through (and still are going through) these pay freezes and pension reforms.

Edit: To be clear, I'm not saying the public sector changes should happen because they've already happened in the private sector. I am saying that the reason there's little sympathy for the public sector complaints is precisely because "we're all in this together".

Edited by ewenm on Wednesday 30th November 12:20

[Tyre Smoke]

pablo said:

the fact is the deals being made in the different public sector departments vary wildly. some public sector departments are set to take far more of a kicking than others. Ask any level headed civil servant rather than a militant "blame the bankers" menatalist if they are prepared to;

- take a pay freeze for five years;
- pay more into their pension;
- work till they are 68;
- take a hit on their lump sum upon retirement;
- take on the extra work that will be left following redundancies;

and all of them will say yes to one, maybe two or even three,, but surely even the most powerfully built, 335d(mapped) driving comapny director can see that all five, at the same time, may not be considered fair if "we're all in this together"....

and yes i appreciate that people made redundant are in a worse position and i feel for them but not every public sector worker is an obese, frequently ill benefits clerk with an o-level in basket weaving just like not every private sector employee is a powerfully built.....

What you fail to appreciate, is that us in the private sector have said yes to all five - repeatedly.

[Getragdogleg]

I want the local council to sweep mud off the roads and gutters, tidy the hedges, suck the drains out and make sure litter is picked up.

I also want the roads resurfaced when they get damaged by frost and I want a good program of improvements designed to aid flow of traffic, I want affordable car parking near to work.

I want the police to operate a visual effective service that actually cuts crime down, I the courts to deal with these people effectivly so punishment is a punishment. I want the prisons to be dry and warm and provide food and training but to be a punishment.

I want public transport to be a viable alternative to cars, not just in London but all over the country, if it is to work it needs to be subsidised and run properly with times and frequency to suit the peak hours.

I want a health service that is efficient and has enough beds, doctors, nurses and surgeons, This service needs to be local, a good full hospital in every major town.

This is just for starters, at the moment we get none of the above yet we are paying for all the above many times over.

[maxrider]

Cleckheatonlock said:

we need to lose all the ridiculous jobs

Age 50, not had a pay rise for 4 years, paid into company pension last 15 years, projected income on last statement gives me around £1500 a year at retirement, also have to work 'til 67.

OP, my heart bleeds for you!