Public-sector strike: does it get your support? Please vote in our Facebook poll

[HelenMumsnet]

Morning.

We'd love to know how you feel about Wednesday's public-sector strike action. Does it get your support - or not?

We've put up a little poll on our Facebook page to help us find out. Please do click and vote.

Thanks v much, MNHQ

Don't support it and won't be striking
Am a teacher. I have a secure job, good pension, long holidays, good conditions, I receive free prescriptions and child benefit.
Something has to go!
I live in Scotland.

Do you know what? I am right selfish, tomorrow is a non-work day for me and DS's school is on strike. Cue nice lie in and no rushing round for a school run . Me very happy as a result.

And apologies for being smug as I know this is a real pain in the arse for some of you.

According to that statement, maybe the armed forces should leave if 'they can't strike' then?

In england, you dont get free prescriptions if you work. in london, if you are a lone parent, once you reach a certain point in your teaching career you will lose your CHB [due to pay scales], whilst a couple next door earning twice as much will still be entitled to CHB. The same would apply to others who are not teachers. The amount of extra money you will be expected to pay into your pension, under new proposals, will be unaffordable for many. This is especially true with the 2 year pay freeze and future pay caps at less than 1%.

Teaching is a profession that is grossly underpaid and undermined. To take away a cut of the pension is a piss take. Full support from me. My father suffered massive heart attack aged 42 as a result from being a brilliant head teacher. Those who think one day of strikes is taken lightly by teachers are deluded.

Quite, herbietea, as I said...'Like others'.

Which rather proves a point. This government are niether fair nor changing pensions because they are unsustainable.

Scratch the surface and you will find!

Not on FB - do not support it get real public sector!

Look what other job do you get so many holidays? We're all sucking it up in this climate.

Also, 'some' in the private sector may not have had pay rises, but I'll bet the share holders still got rises from some of those whopping big companies. And what did they do for their workers and their pensions, whilst swaning around on their thousands?

What has any governemnt done or is doing for those people? what is this governemnt doing for private sector employees and their pensions, whilst cutting the public sectors?

Exactly, nothing.

To broaden the debate to a general comparison between public & private employees:

fullfact.org/blog/public_sector_pay_gap_wages_salary-3139

"....public sector workers, on average, tend to be better educated and employed in more ?professional? roles."

The ONS has attempted compensate for this and

"While it restated that it was ?difficult to make comparisons of the two sectors because of differences in the types of job and characteristics of employees,? it nevertheless estimated that public sector workers? wages were 7.8 per cent higher under a like-for-like analysis."

So public sector workers tend, on average, to be better paid than private sector employees and they have access to a final salary pension denied to most employees in the private sector.

Whether this causes tension now or in the future, will depend on how much value we place on our public sector services.

Tomorrow is, I suspect, the first of many tests of this value.....

Some people don't value it.

And, "you don't know what you have 'till it's gone'".

I have tried to keep an open mind about this but I am afraid that I don't have much sympathy with teachers' demands and this is why.

I work in IT for a large multinational and I manage staff on the same salary as teachers or less, working an average 50 hour plus week and when customers jump up and down they are working weekends and cancelling their holidays on top. I log on to work most nights and most people are on finish off work, most evenings.

They have 20 days holidays per year and they have to pay for their pensions out of their salary and hope for the best. Their jobs are constantly subject to review and always insecure. They have minimum redundancy if they do indeed lose their job.

They have to keep up to speed with latest technologies and are expected to train and develop in their own time. Haven't had payrises in years, pay freezes are the norm and promotions are also frozen (unlike in the public sector).

Competition globally is tough. It's a tough world out there and we are supposed to be all in this together? I think teachers have a difficult job but like for like in comparison to people in the private sector they have an extremely good deal.

After tomorrows strike is over maybe our public sector workers could ballot to work to rule. That would cause far more mayhem than a one day strike! :o

Just seen Francis and Maud on the news lieing his black heart out. How could I tell? His lips moved and sound came out.

One last thing: if this was about the pension funds being unaffordable, the extra 40% or so that ps workers are to be forced to pay surely this money would go into the pension fund?

"If it is so bad working in the public sector, why don't people leave?"

This is precisely why I am supporting the strike. I'd quite like there to be some decent teachers, nurses etc still around for my children and grandchildren. Not holding out much hope for their future at the moment though.

I guess that large multi national company has share holders who earn quite a bit? What do the shareholders do for the workforce?

Exacty Hedley - but as they don't invest it in a pension fund they won't do that so it is just an extra tax on PS workers. Had succesive governments invested the pension contributions paid then they wouldn't have a leg to stand on and the lies would be exposed.

I think, too many people, are venting in the wrong direction.

Jackstarb, that report conveniently glosses over the minor issue that many low-skilled public sector jobs have over the last few years been subcontracted out to the black market private sector- eg cleaning, property maintenance, and security type services, in a bid to save "taxpayers'" money.

This means that the people left in the public sector on the whole tend to be better educated and better paid because the job they do are the ones the govt didn't think it could afford to or did not want to subcontract- because the alternative would be more expensive or because the jobs are too sensitive to be entrusted to the private sector.

Onceinawhile

Tell me - do you think that your employer is right to treat staff in this way?

NASUWT, I believe are 'working to rule' from December.

Zoe - nowadays most big shareholders tend to be pension funds (including local government & NHS pension funds).

Honestly, it's seriously tough to find the real bad guys in this.

Also onceinawhile- your argument practically defeats itself. Most teachers are going to be a lot better qualified than your IT professionals on similar salaries. Just because public sector teachers are underpaid compared to similar-qualified counterparts in the private sector does not mean they should be treated the same as other less well-qualified people.

Does a worker's inherent worth come from what they are paid or their level of qualification and competence?

... but the badguys are definately not the normal, average, working man or woman, albeit in private or public sector. but they are all paying the price.

Duchesse - you are right about the sub-contractors. But these sub-contractors will work long hard hours until they retire at 67 or so. And they will have little pension to show for it.

According to the ONS analysis public sector employees are paid more than similarly qualified private sector workers.