To think public sector workers

[firsttimemum77]

Are being 'punished' for mistakes made by bankers / previous government? I work for my LA and at the moment everything around making savings is centred around our jobs and salaries! People think we earn loads, get bonuses etc etc - I certainly don't and I work unsociable hours with no bonuses and a average wage which pays my mortgage and bills...

So AIBU to feel like this or do I deserve it because I work in the public sector!

That is not true of my scheme, ooojimaflip. It is not government-backed. It is a private scheme.

To elaborate on Oojamaflips last comment

in order to get the same kind of pension you get in the public sector I would have to pay in more every month than I earn.

You lot are not paying for the bulk of your pensions - we are

you have a point ooojj

Penthesileia

YOU ARE IN A GOVERNMENT BACKED SCHEME

That is what final salary means in the public sector

I look forward to receiving some of your money then Splodge when I am 60 and when my Dh retires .

ok - points already proved on this thread

1. the banking bailout is an relatively insignificant cause of the defecit.
2. public sector pay is better than private, on average.
3. the actual cause of the massive defecit is the govt spending more than it took in for the last 13 years.

these are facts.

i would venture as opinion, that government will now have to make spending cuts, and sell off some of its (highly profitable, in the long run) investment in banks to aid his a tiny bit. But mostly this will mean cuts.

No, it is not government backed. I am in the public sector, but my pension scheme is not government backed.

There is no need to shout at me, splodge.

Good

and I look forward to getting some of it back because you're so morally righteous you give it all to charities for screwed private sector pensioners

Not that morally righteous

You need to chill Splodge otherwise you may never get to see your pension.

Penthesileia - May be that is the case for you - it is not generally the case. When my company fucked us over by closing the final salary scheme they were quoting an employers contribution of 25% to fund the current plan.

Penthesileia

Please, it is goverment backed. Not with an official label but you get a pension based on your final salary yet the value of your pension fund is not guaranteed - it is invested in the stock market - it could therefore at the end of your working life be worth less than what you put in.

BUT you are due a pension based on final salary so whatever shortfall there is at retirement is made up by the Government/taxpayer

A final salary pension in the public sector is by definition goverment backed

Please read.

splodge2001 - that depends on if Penthesileia is directly employed by the government or not.

All I know is I was made redundant (company went under) from a private sector job that paid me 40K a year for 4 days a week, then 30K for 3 days.

You could argue that the high salaries at that company were a problem that contributed to the collapse but that would be unfair as until the recession they made a nice profit.

In my nice new 'fat cat" public sector job where I use all the same skills and work approximately 30-35 hours a week when I'm contracted to do 22.5 I am paid 17K a year (compare with 30K for 3 days a week)

Yes I get a better pension but I do a job that is similar in many ways to my private sector including the extra hours that are required (extra hours were often worked in private sector job too) and I get £13K a year less. Surely the pension is in recompense for the lower salary?

Be more specific please

I agree with Edgar and Quattro on key points.

• on huge deficit due to over spending by government
• bank bailout not a cause of deficit

and that the public sector is cushioned in the early stages of a recession.

I would like to ask how much the repackaging of debts spread bad risk and was key to the collapse?

If I can see this had very little to do with the mess we are in then I will stop having a go at bankers at parties (Joking).

splodge2001 do you have job? Why are so jelous?

We are not all financially worth the same. Some people like TheJollyPirate do highly skilled jobs like health visiting. She is an experienced and highly qualifed nurse with post graduate qualifications. She can pick and choose her employer. There is no reason WHY she has to work for the NHS.

The pension is part of the pay packet. What so hard to understand?

Someone agrees to do X and the employer agrees to by them an agreed salary and benefits. If the employer then regnades then they are in breech of contract.

When I worked for an private accountancy firm I got Bupa as part of the package. In my present job, I have a final salary pension scheme.

If they are going to take away the final salary pension scheme, then the public sector are going to have pay their workers the same as the private sector.

Wow, have just read your pension's details Penthesileia

Turns out if I had your pension but the same salary as I have now, my pension would be an incredible 9 TIMES BIGGER!!!!!!!! per year

well, you know Splodge, academic jobs aren't that easy to get. In some subjects you need to be top-first-in-your-year-at-Oxbridge type level

That suggests that you are already paid considerably more than me, then. So, as I said, and assuming that we have comparable skill-sets, you are being financially rewarded now, while my pay is deferred.

Splodge- I can assure you I work my ass off and earn my pension- your comment was very dissapointing- while I don't aggree with your views I did take you as being intelligent.

FWIW A lot of public sector workers have very high stressed jobs which sometimes go through drastic highs and lows and your pension incentivises you to stay when sometimes you want to leave. I am not saying private sector jobs are different- but the cost of replacing well skilled and experienced public sector workers would IMHO massivley increase if the pensions were to go.

No,

because as I said. to get this kind of return id have to have put more than 100% of salary into pension. So it's not a case of deferred benefits,

No sethstar just an bog standard 2:1 form UCL

MrsVidic

In a recession though we can reduce these incentives because there is greater competition for jobs.

Please stop saying you work hard so you deserve more. We all work hard. You get paid more on average and you get final salary pensions. You're all so used to the idea you don't see that they are fundementaly unjust.

Sorry, splodge - was that in response to my last post?

I simply calculated, using information that you've given on this thread (and working backwards using the pensions calculator), that you are (at roughly the same age as me) already being paid considerably more than me. If you saved the difference in our salaries between now and the end of your working life, you'd end up with a pretty large lump sum.

That's what I was getting at.

However, I may have misinterpreted information that you've given here.

I see what you're getting at Penthesileia I may well be paid more than you -It's unlikely that we have comparable jobs.

My illustration is more generic

You get back far more than you put in and on average you earn more:

The typical personal contribution is around 6%.

So I would need to earn around 100k (i earn no where near) to get the kind of pension an average public sector worker on 24k per year would get

That is how extremely generous the public sector is