I work at a grade defined as Band 6 in the NHS- my choice. I have 25 years of experience and the 'promotional' runs on the board to prove my ability and skill. I am part of a small team that runs 3 of the most expensive bits of kit in the hospital. I provide 24 hour cover in a 1:6 rotation.
If I were 2 years qualified, a Band 5, I could go and work in the local private hospital where I would get a £5,000 a year- yes, I wrote that correctly!- pay rise, rising to £10,000 after 3 years service, plus employer pension contributions. The would be no on call whatsoever, and my training needs would be identified and funded. Most of my colleagues would be part-time and semi-retired, somewhat set in their ways and would have chosen to go private because it's way less busy and stressful than an NHS hospital (I'd spend a fair bit of my time filing, in fact!- folders, if not my nails...). All my 'clients' will have been self-selected via wealth, medically selected as posing few risk complications; and would be packed into the back of an NHS ambulance should anything unforeseen happen.
How then am I in any way being paid '20% more' that that band 5 in the private sector?
You can come back and tell me of someone you know who sits on their public rear all day and gets paid a fortune.
That is the nature of the beast, isn't it? There will always be perceived exceptions.
Public sector pay was was always historically lower than their private counterparts' for a number of reasons:
1-Many 'public' jobs (think social care, health etc) are regarded as vocations; the sort of people drawn to them wouldn't necessarily put wealth accrual as number one career ambition.
2-Most are women who historically accept lower rates of pay.
3-Job security and pension were traded against pay.
4-'Perks' included free, cleaned uniforms, subsidised meals and parking.
5-The government accepted that NHS workers felt they were not morally in a position to strike therefore there was an agreement that the pay bargaining bodies would be treated more sympathetically.
However:
1- The Public demanded a higher level of qualification from its NHS staff. Degrees replaced diplomas; DCs with perhaps a higher sense of entitlement and A levels entered the NHS (not necessarily a bad thing!); Society as a whole became more me, me, me (think Thatcher)
2- More men appeared in the work force, drawn by better pay and higher technical and professional requirements.
3- Job security is disappearing fast. The new pension deal is considerably less 'generous' than before, like most people's.
4- All these 'perks' are long gone! We pay market rates.
5- The governmental gloves are well and truly off, so is it any wonder that the NHS trades unions recognise that they feel forced to countenance the same tactics as any other industrial group?
As for: (Q: )
"The fact that anyone in the public sector gets a final salary pension is a total disgrace (though thankfully not all do any more)". Why?
If you'd accepted lower pay for your working life, based on a future pension calculated on the above, why shouldn't you expect them to deliver when the day came? Don't forget that the vast majority of public sector workers are on pretty much minimum wage.
And "I would happily take a 50% pay cut to get my hands on such a pension." - but what if the year before you were due to collect that pension, suddenly the rules changed? Would you still give 50% of your current salary based on that possibility?