Rallying call to save Royal British Legion clubs
- Today's leader
Leader: Strike now – but prepare for a solution
Wednesday 30th November 2011, 12:30PM GMT.
Strikes take place outside Telford College of Arts and Technology in Wellington
Today’s strike by workers in the public services has caused widespread disruption and inconvenience and has been compared to the industrial action which so often brought Britain to its knees in the 1970s.
But the landscape has changed fundamentally since then. These are not strikes called without any democratic mandate by ideologically driven union leaders. This is in effect a mass protest by the union membership – ironically, empowered by the 1980s Thatcher reforms of unions.
They are ordinary working men and women who are worried about their future. Those fears will have been made yet deeper by George Osborne’s autumn statement which holds out the prospect of the most miserly pay increases in coming years – for those workers who are lucky enough to hold on to their jobs.
It is hard to condemn these public servants for feeling they have to make some sort of stand.
However, it is because the public sector has, in comparison to the private sector, been insulated from the economic storm, that the blow on pay and pensions has hit all the harder.
There is a perception that some public sector workers enjoy terms and conditions which compare very favourably to those you find in the private sector. Public sector pensions have been looked on with envy by those who have seen their pension prospects deteriorate.
Having made their point today, it has to be hoped that it spurs a new round of negotiation and a new spirit of compromise. The alternative scenario is that it is the first battle in a war which will bring further disruption.
That can only be bad for the Government, the union members who lose pay, the public who suffer, and the nation.
The sooner a solution is found, the better for all concerned.
Sponsored Links
Most Commented
- Shropshire Council will face £8m redundancy bill
- Clampdown on Shrewsbury chuggers
- Bishop's gay marriage views do nothing to support bible teachings
- Letter: Alcohol price plans annoy me
- Letter: No sense in overseas job adverts
- Letter: Angered by close encounter of the furred kind
- The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff doesn't raise a smile
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
Entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
There are 2.62 million people who would gladly have their jobs!
Report abuse
The mantra seems to be, the private sector did nothing to protect their pensions so the public sector deserves the pox.
perhaps those in the pirvate sector should ask themselves why their bosses treated the pension fund as a bailout for their bad management. Why in many firms were up to 14 years of employer contribution payment holidays allowed. Why were private sector boards not asked to provide evidence of the significant surplus they used as evidence for the payment holidays.
During the Blair boom, why was more pressure not placed on the chancellor’s windfall tax on pension funds.
On average, public setor workers pay 6% into their pensions. Many will now be asked to pay over 10% (3% of which is a direct tax). On average private sector contributions are 5% of salary.
Public sector employers pay 10% into the pension pot as deferred wages. How many private sector emploers do this?
Therefore approximately 10% of public sector income is deferred to a pension each year. In the private sector this is about 5% of income. The Local government pension is a managed fund overseen by independant auditors, not just the employer.
Report abuse