Anyone else fearful that the 5% pay cut given to Cabinet ministers will be passed down to all public sector workers?

[JackiePaper]

It's not looking good is it, both me and DH work in the public sector, and if we get 5% pay cuts, NI goes up 1%, Tax credits are cut and VAT increases to 20% i don't actually think we will be able to afford food

firepile who is arguing that we should give everything over to market forces and go for the least for everyone?

Some people are saying that there seems to be a disparity some equivalent jobs in the public/private sector.

Why do you automatically assume this means that people want things taken away from the pubic sector?

maybe people would be happiest if things were given to the private sector.

With both the private and public sectors, some jobs are well paid, and have good perks, others are poorly paid and do not have good perks. There is also the effect that a lot of the lower paid public sector jobs (hospital cleaners etc) have been farmed out to private companies to lower costs, obviously this has not worked out well for the actual people at the sharp end.

Saying "well I work in X and this, and I know someone who works in Y and that" isn't really a basis for an argument. Although if it was, then from where I am sitting the public sector looks much better than the private in terms of hours, salary, perks, you name it. That is obviously just teh people/jobs I know though.

No firepile was saying that the myth will whip up fear leading to a system whereby everyone has less employment rights and entitlements.

Of course, one of the ironies is that one of the first things to be cut will be paying for consultancy, which will affect the private sector.

They need a radical rethink to assure that everyone in teh country who works gets a decent pension to retire on.

Unfortunately as people are living longer and longer final salary schemes have become unaffordable (which is why most of the have gone in the private sector and they;re on their way out in the public).

How we as a country can afford to provide decent pensions for all - it would need to be a combination of things - but you're looking at increasing retirement ages, increasing contributions, that sort of thing. I don't know what the answer is but it's clear that as people live longer and longer, having one large section of society with final salary schemes just becomes more and more out of kilter.

There must be a way of being more equitable about it.

We can start with the MPs - their pensions were hardly mentioned in the salary/perks/expenses row, and they really are obscene.

Re: pensions - the problem for many public sector pension schemes, including dh's, is that there is no money put away for it; it is funded out of taxation. The new scheme set up for dh's sector, is still final salary (or years served plus rank), but is paid now in increments, and is more generous to widows. However, it was interesting that many who had the option to move to the new scheme (including those who deal with figures on a daily basis) stayed on the old scheme. It means if dh dies, I can't remarry without losing his pension.

Hey look on the bright side if they make cuts to the NHS we won't live as long

Won't there have been a lot of anti-selection with that choice, with people who know that they have health issues opting to take the higher widows (remaining spouse/partner now surely, widows would be illegal) so the net result is that more is paid out, as people will have selected the scheme that they think will give them/their dependents the most cash?

So in the long term there may be gains but in the short-medium term the likelihood is that costs to the pension scheme will be even higher?

I think the actuaries have calculated the average age at which a retired Service person dies, and that it will balance out.

Dh didn't move scheme as we need the lump sum to pay off the mortgage and to fund uni for ds. It also depended on if you were an officer or not and how long you had served. For us, it made no sense to move, as dh's service prior to age 21 didn't count as he is an officer. As he wouldn't get the extra uplift for that, and as half his pension, plus a salary as I would I have to go back to work is more than liveable on; it didn't matter.

jollydiane- in the police force I'm in we do 12 hour shifts so overtime is coming in on a day off- would you go in for nothing on your day off? Also would the officers still be insured etc carrying a firearm when they are not officially on duty as they are not being paid

plans for cuts out next week and budget due 22 june

I'm one of these useless TAs that have made no difference to anyone. Yesterday I acted as a live speaker for a hearing impaired student in her Spanish exam. If I hadn't noticed that she was entitled to a live speaker she would have been forced to listen to a CD she can't fully hear. I helped arrange her special exam conditions.

I also taught another student Spanish to GCSE. I arranged for her to have her exams at home as she was too ill to get to school.

Those stats which claim TAs have made no difference are misleading. They don't take into account the fact that many students would not have had an opportunity to study in mainstream if there were no TAs. Many of those same students are unable to attain high grades. Students like my French extraction group, made up of Downs Syndrome and other moderate learning difficulties, the fact that they get ANY grades is a testment to the hard work of my colleagues.

I pay about £40 a month out of a £700 income on a 30hour week. My last pension statement said I'd get about £500p/a when I retire. Wow! I'm obviously so well off!

Before working as an overpaid public sector worker I never had a pension. I was on course to be one of those who have to live off state pensions entirely. Now at least I have contributed something. If you want to, take my pension. It won't make much difference really. I just won't pay into a pension.