Strike Action - Public Service - 30th November

[Jim Graham]

Sounds like you already have no problem with sitting on your arse all day. I suppose practice makes perfect. Unemployment is usually at it's highest when the tories are in power so how come you are blaming Labour? Oh -and no this situation wasn't brought about by Labour except perhaps through blue tinged spectacles. All Europe is in the proverbial.

 

 

 

I just love a deficit denier. It wasn't brought about by Labour? Oh dear, Oh dear. Who was it then?

 

No No let me guess..................err the bankers. Got it in one eh? Easy question. Easy answer..............which is all you want really.

 

Let me give you a history lesson.

 

In 1977 Jimmy Carter's Democrats in the USA passed an act called the Community Reinvestment Act. It required banks to lend to poor communities because it was felt they were being discriminated against in fianacial matters.

 

Over the years the Act was watered down and watered down especially by Bill Clinton and the requirement for people to have to be able to pay the money back was gradually reduced.

 

Eventually banks were effectively told by government to lend money to people who were unlikely to be able to pay it back or face stiffer taxation regulations. Banks did as they were told. BUT, to make sure they didn't lose money they packaged up the debt and sold it on to unsuspecting other banks under the noses of the regulators who looked the other way. The not very smart UK banks bought some of that debt.

 

Gordon Brown copied the US model to help poor people get on the property ladder here. He did a lot of other useless things as well but too much to go into now. Brown looked the other way when banks lent 120% mortgages to people who obviously could not pay it back. He gave knighthoods to the banks that lent the most to the poorest. It helped prop up Labour's electoral support that the poor were able to borrow money. The banks here didn't have the brains to sell on their bad debt. When it all went horribly wrong the likes of RBS and Northern Rock ran out of money and held debt that was never going to be repayed. That was the start of the problem.

 

Brown massively hiked up the cost of the public sector on the back of taxing banks. When the banks went TU so did his revenue. Instead of facing up to the problem he chose to plug the gap by borrowing and hoping nobody would suss out the problem before the 2010 election. The legacy Brown left us is that borrowing.

 

So you see Labour colluded with the banks to lend more than was wise.

 

Go on then tell me I'm wrong AND why. Or you could and will probabaly just resort to abuse.

[crazybaby]

As I've said previously, the only winners here are those at the top (whether it be public or private sector. Ordinary workers shouldn't be squabbling with each other but raging against those with huge pensions, bonuses and pay at the top. This is what they want, public and private pointing fingers at each other. let's look at some facts about the bully boy MPs

 

"The House of Commons Information Office's own summary of the scheme reveals the following: 1. Unlike the 40-50 years of work being demanded of public servants to receive a full pension, MPs have to work only 20 years (yes, you read that right!); 2. They receive an annual salary of approximately £66,000 (exclusive of the multitude of Directorships – the majority of the Cabinet are millionaires in their own right) which amounts to a little under treble that of the ‘gold plated’ average pay of civil servants; 3. An annual accrual rate of 1/40th (most public sector pensions are 1/80th); 4. A pension payment that is linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI) which is the index the Government is seeking to move away from in public pensions."

 

We're in this together are we?

 

Let's look at the average worker

 

"Under the 'improved' agreements a 30-year-old civil servant on the average wage with 10 years' service will as a result of the reforms need to work an extra eight years and still lose over £115,000 from their total pension package. All this while the average pension paid to former civil servants is just £4,200 per year."

 

Read more: http://blogcritics.org/politics/article/public-pensions-what-you-wont-hear/#ixzz1f7qLVbCN

 

does this seem fair to you?

 

and

 

"My suggestion is throw the Hutton report at anyone who claims there's a £1.1tn "black hole" in public sector pensions and says the country simply can't afford it. As a proportion of GDP, the report shows that the cost of public sector pensions is around 1.7-1.8% of GDP, but will fall from now on – down to around 1.6% of GDP by 2030 and 1.4% by 2060. Yes, the fact that we're living longer means that NHS and long-term care costs are likely to spiral – but that's a separate issue to pensions."

 

I believe the tax not collected from large corporations is more of a percentage of GDP that this.

 

oh look, and more unfairness with senior civil servants

 

"The one thing you can't argue, however, is that high-paid public sector workers don't have a good deal. A senior local government officer on £100,000 a year will pick up £52,900 a year plus a lump sum of £123,750. Similar middle-class professionals in the private sector can only dream of such payouts, which would cost upwards of £1m to fund. Yes, point to the fact that the average public sector worker retires with a pension that is a tiny fraction of that. But, in truth, the cost to the public purse of top-end pensions is indefensible – not least those paid out to MPs."

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2011/nov/29/public-sector-pensions-top-end-indefensible?newsfeed=true

 

My point being, normal workers are losing out here. With this, extra NI, the pay freeze, inflation, VAT, I'll be taking a real time pay cut of over 10% from 3 years ago. The same can't be said for those at the top. Indeed, they are paying themselves more.

 

In reality it should be the normal workers in every industry against those at the top. If you're in the private sector and still think we have gold plated pensions then think on this. Our pension is used as an excuse for low salaries. If they cut our pensions, the private sector will follow suit one way or another.

 

And whilst I hate union leaders, they have managed to organise this strike at least.

 

 

A fair post, looks at both sides of the coin

[gnvqsos]

I just love a deficit denier. It wasn't brought about by Labour? Oh dear, Oh dear. Who was it then?

 

No No let me guess..................err the bankers. Got it in one eh? Easy question. Easy answer..............which is all you want really.

 

Let me give you a history lesson.

 

In 1977 Jimmy Carter's Democrats in the USA passed an act called the Community Reinvestment Act. It required banks to lend to poor communities because it was felt they were being discriminated against in fianacial matters.

 

Over the years the Act was watered down and watered down especially by Bill Clinton and the requirement for people to have to be able to pay the money back was gradually reduced.

 

Eventually banks were effectively told by government to lend money to people who were unlikely to be able to pay it back or face stiffer taxation regulations. Banks did as they were told. BUT, to make sure they didn't lose money they packaged up the debt and sold it on to unsuspecting other banks under the noses of the regulators who looked the other way. The not very smart UK banks bought some of that debt.

 

Gordon Brown copied the US model to help poor people get on the property ladder here. He did a lot of other useless things as well but too much to go into now. Brown looked the other way when banks lent 120% mortgages to people who obviously could not pay it back. He gave knighthoods to the banks that lent the most to the poorest. It helped prop up Labour's electoral support that the poor were able to borrow money. The banks here didn't have the brains to sell on their bad debt. When it all went horribly wrong the likes of RBS and Northern Rock ran out of money and held debt that was never going to be repayed. That was the start of the problem.

 

Brown massively hiked up the cost of the public sector on the back of taxing banks. When the banks went TU so did his revenue. Instead of facing up to the problem he chose to plug the gap by borrowing and hoping nobody would suss out the problem before the 2010 election. The legacy Brown left us is that borrowing.

 

So you see Labour colluded with the banks to lend more than was wise.

 

Go on then tell me I'm wrong AND why. Or you could and will probabaly just resort to abuse.

 

Probabababababaly zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...................

[Hoddock]

gnvqsos = wolfie

[Jim Graham]

Do you realise that the more you write the less you are read.You are not even funny so why would people read your posts?I do not read them as I can get tosh like this with the Mail on Line.Everyone of your sentences is a cliche-do you cut and paste?

 

 

 

Oh dear wrong again were you?

 

Sorry, reading obviously isn't your strong point. Just trying to educate the unwashed masses. I know I am wasting my time because you lot know everything. You never know someone might learn something. Not you of course.

[Joe-b-1]

Do you realise that the more you write the less you are read.You are not even funny so why would people read your posts?I do not read them as I can get tosh like this with the Mail on Line.Everyone of your sentences is a cliche-do you cut and paste?

 

 

I agree entirely and the more he writes the more I realise how bigoted he is and how little he really knows.

[gnvqsos]

I have worked all my life and my pension is my savings............rates now currently at less than half they were not long ago.I have no choice but to sacrifice my living standards to help people out with cheap mortgages,and this won't alter for the forseeable future!............will I be marching behind some union wind up merchant on £160.000 per year who thinks money grows on borrowing trees.......I don't think so.If you have a job take care of it,chances are it might not be there this time next year,and your union wide boy will be on the beach!

 

You make the lemon seem as sweet as honey-do you eat glass as a hobby?Who is this windup merchant on 160k?You have been swallowing some whoppas fed to you by the media!

[xenia]

So, according to you anyone who disagrees with you is a bigot, and all the other abusive words you use. The fact is that I have examined the issues and I have decided to put my country first, before your union barons, before your selfish short sighted unthinking brethren. There are indeed two sides to every arguement. Are you realyl sure you have considered the other one?

 

His argument are only unassailable or even believable if you are a blinkered rightwing bigoted individual who is not prepared to, or who is without the intelligence or empathy to consider the arguments of anyone else. There are two sides to every argument if you can see beyond the end of your nose.

[xenia]

A number of leading union officials earn more than £150,000.

 

You make the lemon seem as sweet as honey-do you eat glass as a hobby?Who is this windup merchant on 160k?You have been swallowing some whoppas fed to you by the media!

[Jim Graham]

Probabababababaly zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...................

 

 

 

Ah bless your little cotton socks. Sleep well my pretty. When you wake up it'll all have been a terrible dream and none of it will have happened.

 

Labour will still be in power. Sheffield will still have a steel industry and the public sector will be fit for purpose.

 

Oh yes, and you'll all get everything you want from the government and the tax payers will all have a bottomless pit of cash to pay you with.