Some Lies I Heard Today

[f4f3]

1. Public Sector Workers need to pay more into their pension fund, because it's unaffordable.
Not true. The fund collects more in contributions than it pays out.
2. Public Sector Workers will pay extra into their pension funds to help pay for their pensions.
No. The extra contributions will go to help pay down government debt. It's basically a raid on the fund, or an extra tax. You pick. 
3. It's unfair that public sector workers have better pensions than private sector workers. 
Actually, this one is true. It is unfair. And the way to level that out, is for private sector workers to get better pensions, not for public sector workers to get worse ones. 

The propaganda I've seen spewed out this week has been pretty hateful stuff. Tonight I heard Dominic Lawson, a journalist, of all things, go on about how unfair it was that taxpayers paid public sector pensions. That's right, taxpayers, unlike PSWs, who pay no taxis and eat babies. He also described PSWs as the Aristocracy of the North East, who were paid massively more then private sector workers. Massively, massively more! So, no, you nob-end: the aristocracy are the aristocracy of the North East. And massively more? How many times more? 5 times? 10 times? The 80 times difference in some private companies between highest and lowest paid workers? I think we should be told.

Comments

[rhade-rad.livejournal.com]

Right on.

And the reason private sector pensions and other working conditions are worse is that they have been deunionised,so they've lost any bargaining power.

Every bit of the public sector sold off to the private sector siphons taxpayer money into the pockets of the directors and the shareholders. In That's Britain earlier - we need to put up rail fares so the poor rail operators can afford to buy new trains with a little government subsidy.

If I were Scots I might even be thinking about voting for further devolution.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Further devolution is a good thing, whether it leads to independence or not. So I'll be voting Devo-Max, and not just because that sounds like a fantastic collaboration between art pop pranksters and Computer Generated video-jock. Wh-wh-wh-whipit. Whip it good.

[ravurian]

M, why do you keep f-locking this stuff? You have the words and the means and the voice, and one cannot possibly link to you saying it so succinctly if it is always (so to speak) soto voce. Which is to say: yes. And also: I would vote for you.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

That is a very good point. F-Locking is a habit that's out-lived its usefulness. Editing now to unlock, and will do an entry about my change of policy...

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

When I started working my private sector job came with a defined benefit pension that was a slightly better arrangement than my current public sector defined benefit pension.

I started on a final salary scheme and am currently on an average earnings scheme.

I notice, like you, that public sector pensions have not gotten better. Slightly worse in fact. Private sector pensions have been significantly reduced.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Best pension provision I ever had was with an investment bank, last year. I can remember being amazed when people started paying into private schemes back in the mid-80's. Like so-called "Redemption" mortgages, it just looked like a financial boon-doggle to swindle ordinary people into paying massive fees for an uncertain return. Hah! What did I know?