I hear our glorious leader is recommending employers allow parents to take their children to work with them if next weeks strikes go ahead
I have just pointed out that this office is not a suitable environment for a minor. Skive, take holiday, i dont care really, just dont bring your rugrats in here.
I work at home and would like to take the same approach.
I don't think I'd get away with it...
He really is a plonker!
handy if you're a couple like mrsconsequence and I, one working in psych hospitals and the other in prisons.
Can't take mine into work. I know what they're like. They'll leave the tops off my felt tips 🙁
Even more handy if you work in a school 😆
I don't have kids. Can I bring my dogs into the office instead?
I like it. Miners and chimney sweeps could make a regular thing of it.
i m planning with others to picket the school the day before.. daughters primary school closed to all the selfish self serving .. they say they care about public services kids education but all they really want is to maintain thier unaffordable working conditions and get boxes of cake sweets cash at christmas..
they say they care about public services kids education but all they really want is to maintain thier unaffordable working conditions and get boxes of cake sweets cash at christmas..
3/10 Please try harder.
what's wrong with you, get the kids back down the mine where they can do something useful. this schooling is over-rated.
Which way will the wind of public sympathy blow?
If it was about job losses, i think there would be more sympathy.
teamhurtmore - MemberWhich way will the wind of public sympathy blow?
The tories have won the propaganda war using their tame press to do so. I doubt there will be much sympathy even tho the press have been spreading lies as there is no one pension fund, some of them are fully funded, some have capped taxpayer contributions and some have already been reformed.
If it was about job losses, i think there would be more sympathy.
given the budget cuts that will happen shortly, our school has lost 4 teaching assistants who havent been replaced in the last year and couple of of teaching staff are set to go.
If it was about job losses, i think there would be more sympathy.
No, i think most people are of the opinion, rightly or wrongly that everyone in the Public sector has a cushy ride, lots of money and a wonderful pension.
Relate this to the experience of those in the private sector who lost their pensions years ago, haven't had a pay rise in years and are spending their waking time waiting for the next round of redundancies.
Perhaps TJ the Great British Public are able to make their own minds up?
A teacher I know is on strike tomorrow but going Christmas shopping.
Strike if you want but do it properly. Have a picket line.
Donkey jacket optional.
Agreed......going for the sympathy vote is a waste of time, and will have zero affect on the government's position.
The solution is simple - an indefinite strike until the government withdraws its threat to scrap existing provisions which were previously agreed by both parties.
I would give it about two weeks before the whole situation was resolved.......2 months max.
However I have no doubt that the teachers will continue to go for the tea and sympathy solution.
And good luck to them. But they won't get my sympathy if they think all they need to do is to take the odd day off work until the government decides to be "nice" to them.
Still, their retirement, when eventually it comes, might be crap, but at least they will have the comfort of knowing that they hadn't upset anyone too much.
teamhurtmore - if they had the information yes but they do not. The propaganda has been pumped so hard that its impossible. The "big lie" technique. Even intelligent folk on here have swallowed the pish.
Teachers - pension fund has been reformed, Taxpayer contribution capped.
NHS - reformed, taxpayer contribution limited ( not as hard a cap as the teacher)
Average public sector pension - £4000 pa - hardly enough to take you out of benefits so reducing it will simply lead to a higher benefits bill
NHS pension fund in massive surplus with the taxpayer gaining millions a year from it and have done for a long time.
Public sector pensions are affordable and sustainable - this is the truth.
The government case is based on deliberate lies, a policy of divide and conquer and the aim is to destroy public sector pensions to make more money for their friends.
If only the proletariat could see the light eh TJ 🙄
[i]The unions case is based on deliberate lies, a policy of unite and conquer and the aim is to enhance pubic secot pensions to make mote money for thier members[/i]
What this really should be about is not dragging down public pensions/pay closer to private sectors, but increasing pensions/pay for the private sector.
Of course those lovely tax paying (or non tax paying coporations) wouldn't like that much.
+1 with TJ.
Last year NHS pension contributions provided a £2 billion surplus to the treasury.
Its actions like the Government's decision to switch the uprating measure for public sector pensions from Retail Price Index to Consumer Price Index expecting to reduce the value of retirement funds by 10-15 per cent is one the reasons why I will be striking on the 30th.
Who are the group of public sector workers who are keeping their pensions RPI linked?
Answer: MPs
We're not "All in this together" are we Mr. Cameron?
I know several teachers who are going shopping. Its a way of saying get stuffed to their striking colleagues. They cannot do anything else as the schools are closed. I can't work so I am going for a bike ride. As one young colleague put it, I'd rather be at work but stupid laws say I can't. I am equally pissed off as a supply teacher, as its a day I just don't get paid for, as some dim wit says that schools can't pay me to cover some one who is striking. Or even off on a planned course/illness or what ever.
What this really should be about is not dragging down public pensions/pay closer to private sectors, but increasing pensions/pay for the private sector.Of course those lovely tax paying (or non tax paying coporations) wouldn't like that much.
The brutal realty of globalisation is beginning to hit home though, why should you be earning £20k when i can get an indian to do the same job for £5k? why expect a pension when i can get someone to do the job and not have to pay one?
I think that TJ is running the risk of being slightly disengenuous - the "average" £4K public sector pension is for people who have already retired after shorter careers and lower wages.
If we account for the substantial growth in the number and pay of public sector employees in recent years, the [i]future[/i] cost of public sector pensions will be markedly higher to the taxpayer.
What the argument basically comes down to is whether it's morally right for private sector workers who typically work longer hours for less money and retire later on lower income non index linked pensions to continue paying a disproportionate amount towards pension schemes set up for public sector workers who typically work less hours for more money and retire earlier on higher paying index linked pensions.
Note this isn't putting a value judgement of the work that either set of workers do, just highlighting that at the present the group that is worse off is paying disproportionately for the well off group - something that many people on this forum write passionately about in their observations on bankers pay etc.
A lot of mixed views on here , I'm a site manager at a school and I'm involved in the strike action too so it isn't just teachers . A lot of my friends have said how outraged they are that the schools are striking ?? So I put it to them like this ; I'm not on a huge salary atall as basically I'm a caretaker with a better title ( but same job ) if these actions go ahead I will automatically lose £100 a month paying towards a pension that I have no choice in paying , not only that but I will have to work more years ( still paying that extra money ) and when I retire I will receive less than what I would as things are now ? Even after paying more money for longer !! So I put to them.....you take on a mortgage over 25 years paying a certain amount , one day you wake up and are told you have to pay an additional £100 per month , also your mortgage is now over 30 years not 25 and to top it off we will also de-value your house at the end of the mortgage ??? It's basically the same so would you all accept that ?
What the argument basically comes down to is whether it's morally right for private sector workers who typically work longer hours for less money and retire later on lower income non index linked pensions to continue paying a disproportionate amount towards pension schemes set up for public sector workers who typically work less hours for more money and retire earlier on higher paying index linked pensions.
But they do not - thats the issue. None of what you say in that paragraph is true
1) private sector workers get paid more for equivalent jobs
2) Most of the public sector pensions have been reformed.
Teachers has a caped taxpayer contribution and has been reformed
NHS is in a massive surplus. 2 billion a year at teh moment
Both reformed in recent years
There is a whole variety of pension schemes out there. some arefully funded.
all public sector pension schemes are affordable and sustainable without open ended commitment from the taxpayer
You need to separate the truth from the tory propaganda
Mattsccm - I think your young colleague and teachers who are shopping next week need to check with their employer what is expected of colleagues who are not striking. They almost certainly need to be in school working on planning and marking - the schools are closed to pupils, not to non-striking teachers. Striking teachers are losing one day's pay - the non-strikers can't just then take a paid day off.
They almost certainly need to be in school working on planning and marking - the schools are closed to pupils, not to non-striking teachers. Striking teachers are losing one day's pay - the non-strikers can't just then take a paid day off.
This is the case in my school which is also open to sixth formers so some of the non strikers might even have to teach.
bobbingbuoy - whilst I appreciate it is a significant outflow, the problem with pensions is they can't be compared to mortgages. With a mortgage, the capital to repay is fixed at the amount you borrowed on day 1, the interest will vary over time. With a pension the ultimate liability is unknown, you can estimate it but it changes as mortality changes, the cost of providing for a pension if life expectancy post retirement increases massively for each additional year of life.
matt: solidarity comrade!
and what bobbingbouy and greeng said
oh and mefty don't be getting all pedantic, is was an anology. Of course you wouldn't be pissed off if the bank changed the terms and conditions of your mortgage...??
NHS is in a massive surplus. 2 billion a year at teh moment
You don't really understand pension surpluses do you? If you have 10,000 employees today but 1,000 in 30 years time (that sort of ratio is not unheard in declining industries), do you expect 1,000 to pay the pensions of 10,000 pensioners? Of course you don't, contributions today are to fund liabilities in 30 years time not today's pensioners, the way you would run it is a ponzi scheme.
hear our glorious leader is recommending employers allow parents to take their children to work with them if next weeks strikes go ahead
Some may actually think he is a leader, i believe he is just a very rich talking head,who has no concept of how real people live threir life.
oh and mefty don't be getting all pedantic, is was an anology. Of course you wouldn't be pissed off if the bank changed the terms and conditions of your mortgage...??
I wasn't trying to be pedantic but there is a fundamental difference between pension liabilities and other liabilities and that is what I was trying to highlight. If the government had a separate fund, which they don't, these issues would be much more obvious, unfortunately they don't and as a result there is a huge misunderstanding over the real cost of pension provision (something I have been the wrong side of, but it is my own fault for not looking at it more closely). That is what I am trying to highlight. I have my own political views but I can't be bothered to argue about these on here, so I don't bother airing them on the whole.
Of course you don't, contributions today are to fund liabilities in 30 years time not today's pensioners,
If that had been done ie invested for the future the NHS pension fund would be the biggest in the world and wouldbe able to pay all the possible liabilities in future for ever and still have a huge surplus. Unfortunately it has been used as a source of government income and spent. this government wants to make an even bigger surplus to pay off its banker friends.
Indeed its actually works the opposite way to that which you say so far from me not understanding it its you that does not. todays contributions pay todays pensions. this is how the NHS scheme actually works. revenue funded
What the argument basically comes down to is whether it's morally right for private sector workers who typically work longer hours for less money and retire later on lower income non index linked pensions to continue paying a disproportionate amount towards pension schemes set up for public sector workers who typically work less hours for more money and retire earlier on higher paying index linked pensions.
I think we have to argue about whether what you just said is true first.
You don't really understand pension surpluses do you? If you have 10,000 employees today but 1,000 in 30 years time (that sort of ratio is not unheard in declining industries), do you expect 1,000 to pay the pensions of 10,000 pensioners? Of course you don't, contributions today are to fund liabilities in 30 years time not today's pensioners, the way you would run it is a ponzi scheme.
Luckily, a bunch of clever people looked at the NHS and Teachers' pension schemes a couple of years ago and fiddled about with them so that this situation wouldn't occur.
Extra luckily, all the early-retirees from just before the previous TP reforms (in the 90s?) will be dying soon. So, the cost of the TP scheme is going to get even cheaper.
This is the case in my school which is also open to sixth formers so some of the non strikers might even have to teach.
At my 6th form college, all lessons are cancelled but the college is open so that any students who wish to can use the facilities and any non-strikers can go in to work.
If that had been done ie invested for the future the NHS pension fund would be the biggest in the world and wouldbe able to pay all the possible liabilities in future for ever and still have a huge surplus.
What like the Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP in the Netherlands, which is the Dutch Civil Servant's pension fund and one of the world's biggest investors. How come they still require contributions from employees, if such pension funds are self perpetuating?
Luckily, a bunch of clever people looked at the NHS and Teachers' pension schemes a couple of years ago and fiddled about with them so that this situation wouldn't occur.Extra luckily, all the early-retirees from just before the previous TP reforms (in the 90s?) will be dying soon. So, the cost of the TP scheme is going to get even cheaper.
They are not particularly clever, they are just actuaries doing their job, a bit dull, but it is what they enjoy. The government is uncomfortable with the liability it is accruing, without government making contributions none of these pension funds would be close to self funding, all of them would be in deficit so you need them to contribute and they don't want to contribute so much. That is all. It is salary horse trade, nothing more nothing less, they are not raiding your pension fund like Maxwell.
The government is uncomfortable with the liability it is accruing
That'd be the one that's capped?
Yes at a very generous 14.1% before the changes. It may not be an open ended liability but it is still a big one.
mefty - sorry - you have a basic failure of understanding here. You didn't even realise the NHS was revenue funded. ie todays contributions pay todays pensions and its in massive surplus.
the teachers pension scheme is capped - there can be no open ended liability. It has already been changed as has the NHS one
The NHS is revenue funded - the taxpayer has been taking billions a year surplus for a long time. We have paid plenty for our pensions - its not right that the government should want to make even more out of us or deny us the pension we have already paid for
its stupid to talk about what used to be the case - the schemes have already been altered to make them sustainable.
Its exactly a maxwell style raid.
Take an example from our CEO, come the school holidays his kids are in the office making us cups of tea/coffee as required...
