Excellent BL!

Erm.  Are there a couple of typos in there though??

My private-sector pension pays out when I'm 55......


It's about time anybody from The Fed actually did something.* 




Something about publicly trying to protect our pay and conditions I mean...........


Edited by IveToldYouOnce - 21 July 2010 at 4:14pm

Totally agree with you on this point OSM...

Well given one of the reasons the Fed has given for this years raise in subscriptions was the below, I think we have already contributed the necessary for them to start taking things further...

In addition to the above, there are a number of significant challenges facing the Federation in the coming years in respect of pay and condition negotiations. It is a matter of fact that the above issues will cost significant amounts of money and this has to be found from somewhere………….the only options are an increase in subscriptions or a reduction in services and the latter is just not an option.

I hate to rain on your parade chaps (and chapesses) but the responses appear to me to be typical left wing claptrap and not the whole truth:



Since the private sector cannot afford to keep up their final salary schemes what evidence is there that the public sector schemes are sustainable, particularly those which do not have an actual fund and pay pensions from current contributions plus the taxpayer?



Replacing the existing defined benefit (final salary) schemes with defined contribution schemes, assuming actual funds are set up, will indeed mean increased taxpayer funding in the imediate future for those schemes that do not currently have an actual fund behind them.  The saving come longer term and are essential.



Who pays?  The private sector could not support the final salary schemes it had so certainly could not afford to bring them up to public sector levels.

That is a tacit admission that public sector pensions are indeed higher/better than private sector pensions.



Note the wording "The majority of workers joining public sector pension schemes ..."  No mention of those who are already long standing members.



I ask again, who pays if the private sector pensions are to be brought up to the standard of the public sector pensions?

Again a tacit admission that public sector pensions are indeed higher/better than private sector pensions were.



Indeed it does but the public sector does not actually earn any (or significant) money.  That is supplied by the taxes paid by the private sector.  Taxes paid by the public sector, or from public sector spending,  is merely shuffling money between pockets.



Indeed it probably is but that does not mean that reform is not necessary



Every worker should have access to a decent affordable pension.  If the pension cannot be afforded the scheme will eventually collapse and the pensioners suffer.



Good public servants do indeed deserve decent pay and pensions but they do have to be affordable.  Our children and grandchildren will not look kindly on us if they have to struggle to live and save for their retirement whilst paying high taxes to support us living the life of Riley.

See the submission to the public sector pension commision from the Fed.

To be fair to the Fed, this submission reads well and is well put together. I won't bet my mortgage that it'll be listened to but their argument is compelling - it's the one we've been making on here plenty of times.