General Strike

[theoldbrigade]

Seems the country is moving that way.

Have a feeling this will gain momentum over the next few months no matter whether private or public sector.

Your thoughts ?

niceguy I had a conversation about the public sector pensions disparity with Yvette Cooper in around 2005. She admitted then that it was a massive problem.

The whole party knew but a decision was taken that it was too unplatable to deal with.

Exactly. And politically there's no way they could have dealt with it. It's only now where we've now a situation where there's actually an appetite for cost cutting and a realisation from most people that we need to live within our means that the government dare tackle it.

I've no doubt if Labour won, they'd be doing the same thing with only a minor variation on substance and probably a different spin.

For me the key question if we don't change teacher's pensions is who will pay? If a teaching union can answer me that then I'll happily reconsider my personal opinion.

In 2008-2009, the cost of paying pensions for teachers, NHS, armed forces and civil service was £19.3billion yet only £4.4billion was paid in. Given there's no assets like a private pension scheme to draw money from, that leaves the remainder of the £14.9 billion to be paid for by the tax payer. And that's money we can no longer give to the NHS budget, or spend on police etc.

In short, I think there's a realisation from most people that if you dont pay enough in, you won't get as much out. Simple maths. Unfortunately a concept our teachers seem unwilling to grasp.