Conservative proposals to freeze public sector pay-what do we think??

[MavisEnderby]

Good idea or not?

I agree fluffles. I have worked a lot in the private sector and yes, I worked hard. But no harder than I do now in the public sector - I still work to 2am when I need to, or go in at 5am etc etc. And my wages were much better privately. But I wanted (naively I now realise) to be on the other side working for the public good. Oh the silliness of youth. I regret it to be honest, but still cant bring myself to leave as I am in an area where they cannot recruit and the occasional 'thankyou' when I help somebody feels good. But it wont take much more for me to leave. I am currently working on my second masters degree in my specialised subject and if things in local government get much worse I will get out like I have seen almost all my colleagues do.

you were considering voting for them expat??????

of course if you've got millions in the bank, who cares what y our 'salary' is - easy enough to take a cut of 5% in pay if it's not yoru main income - so I'm not v impressed by cameron's take on ministerial pay.

what about the wbankers?

I am happy to swap Northern - you can have my pay rise per month and I willtake yours with a big smile on my face - ta £35 per month whippy - that will more than cover the child care rise for this year and next year and the year after - whoppy.

See to some they think that £35 is rather poultry but to others it is a lot of money.

i would have been happy with a £10 per month pay rise - didn't get it though and will not get that over the next 3 years.

I work in the public sector

Morosky, I understand that your posts - like everyone else's - are going to be very subjective, but at times yours seem bizarrely so.

You talk of being exhausted and facing piles of work well into the night and crying at the thought, after saying your job is not stressful. Do you fully recognise signs of stress and do you have a few other similar-level jobs to compare your current one with?

And I agree with heated's comment.

In dire financial circumstances, a pay freeze would be acceptable to me as long as it's done in a fair and rational way.

Atlee went to Eaton,was a labour MP and architect of the welfare state.
Whatever you think of DC etc policies,why should their schooling/wealth matter,anymore than the colour of their skin??

you could buy a lot of poultry for £35 -

Ok here are my stats

Hols- 28days but 17 years(3 have to be taken during xmas close down)
Quals- professional quals equivalent to a degree.

Wages - £26000 per annum.Pro rata

Stress Levels very high but, I do love my job which is in housing this week I have had to deal with a suicide and regularly have to take on the spot decisions/risk assessments as dealing on a daily basis with drug users, alcoholics and people with mental health disorders (not always diagnosed and therefore medicated). On the flipside I also work with some fantastic people - the suicide included so I'm feeling very sad too.Meet people in awful circs sometimes and it can be difficult not to worry about them etc. or get quite angry on their behalf!

Oh and this is done part time because there is no room in the budget to increase my hours despite managers agreeing that the post is really full time. Mad really but someones gotta do it.
Tbh I am working pretty much fulltime but am only paid part time.

It will not be done in a fair and rational way though - they will pay big wages to get in suitable candidates for the job, there reasoning will be if we dont pay the riight slaery we will not get the right caliber fo person for the job.

So the lower paid will be froozen and the top jobs will be increased to atract the right people.

I don't in any way trust them.

my employer was linked to a nursery which was a sort of private/charity/NFP etc.

Whilst my pay rise was

putdown - thing is it's not just Cameron. Almost the entire Tory front-bench team is drawn from top public schools. They have VERY little experience of what life is like for everyone outside their own privileged circles. And it's very worrying that they can't even begin to think of anyone from the rest of the population that might have something to contribute.

Although for Cameron personally, I guess having a child with a serious life-limiting disability will have brought him into some contact with some people in rather different circumstances.

Pointyhat my cry was a rather pathetic girly one, I am tired but will be fine tomorrow. I am tired today because I did not sleep last night due to cows mooing all hours in the field next to my house. I have a lot to do but have taken the night off so I am fresh for tomorrow. For lots of people that is not an option, I watch my partner and if has a lot on he just cant say I am too tired, he just does it. I am also a little under the weather, I suspect I would have a little pathetic girly cry tonight whatever mu job.

There are flash points of stress as there are in other jobs. But day in day out it is not like that and I am never far away from a holiday or a weekend. I work the hours I do so I can have weekends and my holidays almost free. Most people cannot choose to do that. Even when I work long hours it is not unpleasant, I enjoy making resources, marking books etc. There are times when I have to work into the night or get up at 5,but lots of jobs are like that. My ex husband worked in retail and when a new shop was opening he would have to work through the night. He would work from 8 in the morning until half ten at night during the run up to Christmas.

And Ivy, I suspect you are right that they will continue to pay directors and chief execs £££££££ even in the public sector.

DH is a teacher earning £42k

last year he earned £1.62 an hour

I counted that at the end of the year after our numerous arguments about how hard he was working . He took 62 days holidays (including weekends).

He's better this year - last year was new school, new job, new kids.

oh and he's happy for the public sector pay freeze as he's happy with his salary

Stress is relative, I have worked in stressful schools, dealt with violent pupils, being attacked by pupils, classes refusing to listen, bullying from senior management and the constant threat of redundancy. In comparison to that my life is now a walk in the park.

wasn't there an interview with cameron where they asked him how many 'normal' people he was in contact with (ie people paid an average wage who he knew to chat to) and it was basically his cleaner?

if an entire party leadership made up of people from, what, the top 1% of the population for wealth and privilege (might be an exaggeration or maybe not) were in a party committed to social equality and helping the more disadvantaged in society, then I wouldn't be too worried about their background. but as it's the tories we're talking about I think it's fair comment to be sceptical about whether they'll be looking out for 'the common man's interests' or their mates in the city/country houses

Am a public sector worker myself,so would prefer not t o have a pay freeze,but I realise that whoever wins the election we have tough times ahead.
The country is up to its neck and beyond in debt.Yes,I would like the fat cats/bankers to pay,and welcome George Osbourne saying he will consider taxing bonuses.
As has been mentioned before many labour ministers have attended public/fee paying schools..Harman,Balls,Blair are the ones that spring to mind.
And of course Mandelson isn't averse to the high life either,is he??

In this day and age playing the 'toff' card is both ludicrous and disrespectful.

I work with people who were born with a silver spoon and find them much more compassionate and caring about pensioners, low incomes, the disabled etc than people who have been there and done that and climbed up the ladder.

These are the people who to us 'have it all' and yet they want to make things better for others rather than just better for themselves.

If we're going to take our fair share of the pain now will we get our fair share of the private sector's bonuses & perks in the good times please?

My holidays are the same as my private sector dh. No bonuses, no paid overtime. No maternity cover so I'm doing 2 jobs at the moment as colleagues are off. No money to do things properly so you get very good at doing lots with very little.

And with the Tories on the way in I'll be very surprised if I'm still in a job in five years time. Fat lot of use my pension will be to me then.

You compare your job to crazy things, though, like working all through the night. I suppose everyone can only compare their job to those of others they know and to their own history oif jobs.

I would say most people can work long long hours when they need to, to make sure they have a day or weekend off.

Most people I know don't have to work long long hours at all to have a couple of free days to themselves.

But then I don't mix with big high flyers

Well, was planning on voting for them but they have lost my vote.

Given the area I live in, I'm sure this won't worry them as despite all their faults/mistakes, it is still a labour stronghold.

Anyway. I am a public sector worker and work in a very stressful area, with a high sickness and vacancy rate. Despite this I am meant to run an area that barely has the minimum staff most days and it is getting worse, as people are not being replaced when they are absent/leave.

My dh is currently on a long deployment - he is in the navy, but because it is classed as non-operational, he will not be entitled to any pay rise. He is however, expected to only spend 10 weekends at home in 18 months in a non operational role!!!!

Life is great as a public sector worker, I don't think!

" Fat lot of use my pension will be to me then."

what pension Gordon Brown has raided everyones pension pot, there isn't going to be a pension for anyone if they stay in power.

IvyKaty, that is exactly my issue.

Unemployed friend of dh has been on training for a job that he belatedly realised doesn't really exist (been told to go home and wait until there is work) but he has disappeared from the official unemployment stats - but the so-called job-finding company has been paid their rather large fee for 'placing' him in work. Such an iniquitous system.