Disgusting

[StoneofDestiny]

AIBU to think it's disgusting that the pay of Nurses, Prison Officers, police, Teachers and other public service workers who have kept us safe despite the risk to themselves throughout this Covid year are the ones that get their pay frozen

they're good, but they're not what they used to be. People talk about gold-plated pensions, but the vast majority of public sector pensions are nowhere near enough to live on.

They’re still immensely better than defined contribution. Public sector workers seem to overlook that (perhaps simply because they used to be even better again, as you point out).

And the point is not to tear that down, but that this needs to be taken into consideration when comparing salaries. I’m ploughing 500 a month of my monthly take home into my defined contribution pension and I don’t have a hope of achieving anything like the payout a public sector worker, doing a similar job to me, will get.

If you have a job you should be grateful not moaning because you won't get a pay rise
No. No worker should be I’m a cowed passive state of gratitude for having a job
Moaning? Do you mean raising legitimate workplace concerns

No worker should ever be in a passive state of servitude told be grateful for having a job

@pointythings I know all that, I worked in public then private now back public as specifically I wanted more family friendly & still good pension.

we should be looking at why private sector pensions in the UK are so awful and why that is permitted to continue.

Capitalism isn't working, most people are intrinsically selfish & want to buy cheap. I actually would favour radical reforms but they are not popular. The vast majority of the population want to pass on their house to their kids, own a BTL or a 2nd home, shop at Amazon, reduce benefits etc.

How many threads have we seen on here about people moaning they had to work whilst others were at the beach? Or saying they couldn't survive on UC but it was fine for the feckless before covid. Or posters telling the SE it's tough because they paid themselves dividends? Apparently the furloughed are the new scroungers even though plenty physically couldn't work as their industries are shut down.

Gets so tiresome this private vs public sector crap.

If you think publicnsector workers have it so good whats stopping you from joining?

We have thousands of vacancies and would welcome you with open arms.

Absofuckinlutely come on in, join the grateful gang. It’s a party in the NHS

Well, you do need people working in the private sector and raising the revenue in the first place. That’s the only way it can work.

@littleposh here's a though, maybe the rich could pay?

Professional, knowledge-based jobs are paid much less in the public sector

This is true, but then many of the best professionals wouldn't work in the public sector even if the salary was tripled, because the culture isn't to their taste

It's also true that lives are worth more than money, and of course that was a big argument for lockdown (much of it, IME, coming from public sector workers who were pretty sure of their jobs). So it's a bit ironic in RL to hear the same people moaning now the consequences are rolling in

I think we only supported lockdown because we saw how actually unwell people were, it was frightening and emotional. I’m sure most people knew we’d be paying for generations.

Personally I had no gain from lockdown other than not seeing patients dying in corridors as in Italy. That’s what lockdown was for. I’d actually quite like a break from the nhs now after almost 30 years, I’m broken.

@quarentini

If we are all in this together then everyone should be treated the same

Agree with this. I work in the private sector and covered the jobs of three other people during the first lockdown. I won’t get my bonus this year and I doubt there will be any pay rises for the next few. But our company has made no redundancies when they absolutely could have. I feel very lucky to have a job at the moment, particularly when I see so many excellent colleagues from similar organisations on LinkedIn now out of work.

Furlough has been fantastic in allowing businesses to maintain the salaries of the employees and not undertake knee jerk redundancies in the face of an unprecedented situation. But it has been expensive and the money has to come from somewhere. We don’t have unlimited funds to draw from.

That being said, I wholeheartedly agree that MP’s should also be subject to the same pay freezes as other public sector employees.

YANBU. I'm all in favour of NHS staff getting a pay rise, but without people running public transport and school staff opening schools for their children, including through the holidays, how many of them would have been able to go to work?

This pay freeze doesn’t apply to nhs. It applies to military,police,prison,civil service

This pay freeze doesn’t apply to nhs. It applies to military,police,prison,civil service. And local authorities, education

I’m nhs and I’ve worked harder than ever this year. I’m truly drained and exhausted but I have a regular income when many do not so I’m okay with not having a pay rise this year. If that means we’re able to stabilise the economy and support those in need then I’m fine with that. My colleagues feel the same. We don’t do it for the money and taking a pay rise when others around us are losing lives and jobs does not sit well with us. I would like the mps to agree to a 3 year pay freeze though.

I'm public sector and absolutely gutted at Rishi Sunaks announcement.

I've felt grateful to be in the position to work my arse off during the pandemic, even though it meant exposure to positive cases but my earning power dropped by £10k due to a health condition and now I'm in a very low paid entry level job topped up by UC.

After scrimping and saving for years I could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel with annual increments and the chance to work my way back up to a similar wage over the next 5 years.

Sorry, but I agree with OP that a public sector pay freeze is unfair. The thought of struggling on for several years on the same pay, whilst colleagues on the top of the payscale, doing exactly the same job as me, earn £5k more fills me with dread. Especially when with inflation I will have even less money in real terms and so struggle even more than I do now.

This pay freeze doesn’t affect nhs staff at all

NHS pay is managed by professional grouping
Agenda for change for Nurses,AHP, admin,paramedics,managers,support staff,HCA
Doctors, dentists pay award under Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration board

This pay freeze applies to local authorities, police,prison,military,civil service

Half the country wasn't on furlough

Maybe not, but in my area vast numbers of (already fully funded) LA staff were
Never mind redeploying them to areas which sorely needed help; the LA simply took the money, rubbed their hands and continued to whine about funding shortages - which at least in the departments I've been involved with are almost entirely of their own making

Interesting, too, to see NHS procurement issues blamed wholly on government red tape. Yet another example, I'm afraid, of their total inability - a trait shared by too many in these sectors - to accept responsibility for anything at all

and of course that was a big argument for lockdown (much of it, IME, coming from public sector workers who were pretty sure of their jobs). So it's a bit ironic in RL to hear the same people moaning now the consequences are rolling in

Isn’t it ironic?
All those people bleeting on that lives are more important than money who are now getting the rage because it’s actually their money now.

It was always short sighted to chronically disable the economy, but here we are, thanks to the baying crowds

It’s a false dichotomy to tell public sector staff to pipe down and be grateful Because other people are unfortunately suffering

Yes, I have no recollection of key workers in public service jobs getting a big pay rise when the private sector was booming.

Yes, when other sectors were buoyant and paying well the public sector lagged behind

Why is it disgusting? You should count yourself lucky if you have a job at the moment, let alone a pay rise.

@StoneofDestiny

Most people vote with tax in mind and in that sense the majority of the public have provided the status of how much is available to pay public sector workers.

The majority voted for a lower tax system than what Corbyn was offering so that is what we’ve got.

No, I refuse to think I’m “lucky” to have an mentally demanding arduous job during covid
I have considerable skills which I’m employed for and that’s a transaction for which I receive a salary.
I chose my career, I’m happy in it.i accrued Debts by training

Tax on public sector workers rather than a general tax increase. Without a fake round of applause