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[Bionic]

How the hell do the public sector workers with their proven inefficiencies and constant mistakes at our cost believe that they are due a far better pension than we, the tax payers, who they are intent on making pay for it? As far as I am concerned they are underworked, overpaid and receive to much pampering to start with. Whose pension pots were robbed to pay for the last lot when it was discovered that their own pension pot did not hold enough? - yep...it was ours. They have gall and face to hold up banners demanding 'No Cuts' and worse 'Fair Pensions'! Fair pensions? What is fair when they want far more than the rest of us will ever get?
Bring back Maggie and get these union robbers back under control before they destroy this country completely.
By the way...The union leaders and organisers will be receiving full salaries and expenses while the rest of their members will not. How stupid does that make their members look for supporting the strike their leaders have incited?  If I did not laugh I would cry at its utter stupidity cos once again it is vulnerable who will suffer  and not those with shiny asses and polished chair seats who will remain blinkered and unsympathetic to that fact!
NO support should be shown to them at all, they should be ostracised by the remainder of society as a whole until they see sense. They are parasites on us all who care nothing for anyone but themselves..........

[Gaffers]

Public sector pensions will change in 2015, instead of being based on final slaery it is going to the average over your career.

But not just civil servants but this is the Armed Forces as well.  Think about that next time a big military conflict comes along (there has recently been an SDSR so history dictates we are due another one soon)

In the forces we sacrifice a lot to serve the country including a wage much lower comparable to the same role and responsibility.  Ex forces generally die earlier than civilians for a multitude of reasons thus the good pension we used to get was fair.  Now that is being changed, cue the exodus!

[blackviper90210]

You can't just tarnish the entire public sector with the same brush.... the average worker's pension isn't fantastic, believe me I know. I've got 10yrs from my last job and it's worth jack and yes I know 10yrs isn't that long either.

The REAL gold plated pensions are the exc'c and chf exc's etc, they're the one's on 100k + and living the high life, not the office worker. I don't see many people going ballistic over MP's pensions etc, yet they're on pensions the like's of us could only ever dream of! 

Rant over 

[albitz]

Public sector pensions will change in 2015, instead of being based on final slaery it is going to the average over your career.

But not just civil servants but this is the Armed Forces as well.  Think about that next time a big military conflict comes along (there has recently been an SDSR so history dictates we are due another one soon)

In the forces we sacrifice a lot to serve the country including a wage much lower comparable to the same role and responsibility.  Ex forces generally die earlier than civilians for a multitude of reasons thus the good pension we used to get was fair.  Now that is being changed, cue the exodus!

Imo public sector workers should have pensions on the same basis as private sector workers - pension paid depends purely on how well your pension pot has been invested.
The armed forces and police should be exempt from that.
It should be illegal for public servants to strike.
Ideally, those who do should be instantly dismissed.
Bionic - I agree with much of what you say, but they arent all,useless,lazy,wasters.There are some good people in the public sector, who still actually recognise the concept of public service.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Yup, public sector pensions need to be real world pensions (and they are not at the moment).

And I speak as somebody who has a wife with a lower end job in the public sector (so know how good it really is).

Also retirement age needs to be brought into line to.

[geoffr70]

It might be a good idea to get all the information before making broad sweeping statements based on ignorance and attention grabbing sensationalist headlines. There are many things wrong with the public sector and the pension schemes. It seems that in recent years, when the gravy train of private sector pensions crashed, jealous, malevolent attention has turned to public sector pensions. The main problem with the public sector pensions is that the funds have been plundered and mis managed by the idiots 'administrating' them.

Lots of people in the public sector work very hard thanks, and it's a disgrace for you to generalise and say they don't. The contribution rate for the scheme at my workplace is 11%.

More attention should be focussed on the astronomical cost of 'benefits', holiday camp prisons and many other things, long before attacking the pensions of hardworking people.

[Kevin Wood]

The contribution rate for the scheme at my workplace is 11%.

.. which wouldn't get you a great pension in the real world private sector.

[albitz]

The fact is Geoff that the current arrangements for public sector pensions are not affordable or sustainable, and they were never going to be.They were agreed between Labour and the unions.The unions fund the labour party, so they had a little bit of leverage.
The amounts promised, coupled with the additional 800,000 jobs created,plus the fact that people are living longer than they used to means the figures dont even come close to adding up.It would bankrupt the country if it were to try to fulfill the obligations under the current system. Brown knew this, which is why he plundered the pension pots of private sector workers to try to fill the gap in the public sector.
We are now at the ridiculos situation where I contribute more to the public sector pension pot than I do to my own pension pot. Thats wrong whatever way you want to look at it.
If an employee is guaranteed an amount of money upon retirement, regardless of what happens to the investment of their pension contributions, that promise can only be fulfilled by taking the money off other people.

[Varche]

The problem here is most people accept there needs to be change, it is the rate of change that people find difficult.

For example a 25 year old being told you will have to work till you are 70 wouldn't rail. However someone who has worked all their life and is nearing retirement age to find that retirement age is going up a few years or the pension you receive is going to be significantly less isn't acceptable. On a micro scale think what would happen if this month your paypacket was £300 light.

The blame sadly lies with our useless system of government which fails to tackle long term issues because "they would be unpopular and not get in next term"

Want some examples?

High speed trains
Proper accountable MOD spending
Aircraft carriers
NHS
Education
Roads
Congestion Charging

The list is endless.................   

[I_want_an_Omega]

There is no right answer to this as it's highly subjective.

From the perspective of the people who are affected they are seeing a major change to what they signed upto.

From others perspective they/we see them being brought towards reality.

Two opposite views.

I lost my final salary scheme when my company got taken over - TUPE rules dont apply to pensions. There was nothing I could do about it. They see industrial action as a possibility, there is however no public support.

This will run, there will be strikes but the gov't wont give in. Interesting to see the situation in France/Spain etc where they will be much more millitant.

[tunnie]

One aspect of the strikes is that is getting it into the minds of everyone, I had a system here at Sky, but did not really understand what it meant.

Looking into it, using pension calculators, made me realise I need to inject more into my fund. I now put in 8% & Sky top it up with a further 8% - So a 16% is not too bad, but aim to get it up to 20% within next couple of years.

Must be others soo which this has triggered an interest, Final Pension salaries were always open for abuse too, getting a massive pay rise before retiring.

[Marks DTM Calib]

To get a reasonable pension you need to be looking at the best part of 25% of your salary being invested somewhere........and then hoping that when you draw it the stock market is ok.....so not good news for those looking to draw thiers down now! (note, this is for real pension funds and not the public sector ones which we can no longer (and probably never could) afford and will have to change!) 

[Nickbat]

Redaing the comments below the BBC news item on this subject and surprisingly few (given Beeboid readership) are supportive of the unions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14907909

[I_want_an_Omega]

Redaing the comments below the BBC news item on this subject and surprisingly few (given Beeboid readership) are supportive of the unions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14907909

And the reason for that is the "gold plated" BBC pension which was spun off from the Govt scheme some years ago. Dont forget that the BBC journalists go on strike from time to time. Just bear in mind that when your fave BBC news reader is commenting about the pension situation they are doing it from the "I'm all right Jack" perspective.

[Varche]

To get a reasonable pension you need to be looking at the best part of 25% of your salary being invested somewhere........and then hoping that when you draw it the stock market is ok.....so not good news for those looking to draw thiers down now! (note, this is for real pension funds and not the public sector ones which we can no longer (and probably never could) afford and will have to change!) 

Good schemes take the money pot built up out of stocks and shares(which can go down as well as up) well in advance of taking the annuity. In fact good schemes get out of risky shares into more stable blue chip shares before  the pot is converted into cash for want of a better description.

All of them still outrageously charge far too much despite the subject being well aired. So your private pension is severly eroded by the charges made by the monkeys bankers running the scheme. Where are the strikes over this? Government/bankers in cahouts ?! Wash my mouth out.