30th Nov - Who's doing what?

[pigletwillie]

and getting back to the original question, despite working a 12 hour night shift and working for the private sector, I will be joining the march at 11.30 at the top of High street in Leicester and staying for the rally in Halford street after.

There is power in a union, and there needs to be otherwise the 99% will be squeezed into terms and conditions from the last century!

[Two_Sheds]

^ no votes for women

^ no black people on buses

^ still be apartheid in S.Africa

etc etc

The British have, sorry had, a great tradition of standing together. Now it's everyone for himself it seems and stuff the rest of you

[pigletwillie]

And for the record, I have no time for the Labour party and am not particularly left wing, but whats right is whats right and this thin end of the wedge is just plain wrong.

[Two_Sheds]

^ I was just thinking that you must've switched sides

[Two_Sheds]

I'm not a public sector employee, and I have no pension of any kind. Mr TS has (at the moment anyway, until another Black Wednesday) a generous private sector pension, so we aren't directly affected by public sector pension cuts.

However, I do appreciate what teachers, nurses, binmen etc do for us, doing sometimes cruddy jobs on our behalf, and support their action.

[Snadger]

Working people reject punitive control and assert themselves - can't be having that now, can we............

[Florence Fennel]

I shall be marching in support of teachers, nurses, midwives, firefighters and all the other public sector workers who we would be in a very sorry state without.

What in those shoes SH?

[VirginVegGrower]

I think as per usual the common man in the street is hit along with those in a more cushioned position. I do think parts of the civil sector are bloated and need serious housekeeping. For example, a council leader I know has a lovely big pension pot waiting for him at retirement, ex wife kept in luxury, grown up children from that failed marriage kept in luxury and propped STILL despite being in their twenties. He helped his son get into the police force. Both children were educated privately. His daughter and ex both work for the same council. Now tell me that all of that is right!
A neighbour of mine, a retired chief inspector has just received a golden handshake in excess of £150k. Openly bragged about it at our monthly residents meeting. He has walked straight into a consulting job with the same police force.
I am with the ordinary civil sector workers who will notice standardized cuts to their meagre salaries and pensions, however those same changes to upper and middle strata are needed and will not be noticed out of over inflated salaries/pension pots.
Five years ago my old employer (private sector) asked everyone across the board to volunteer a 2.5% pay cut to avoid job losses. Now 2.5% of £20-40k is not the same as 2.5% of £50-500,000! Those at the top can sustain such a cut more so than the little guy at the bottom of the wood pile.
Why don't they look to making fewer generalized cuts and apply them where they will be noticed least?!

[lottie dolly]

Why don't they look to making fewer generalized cuts and apply them where they will be noticed least?!

too easy,.............

[pigletwillie]

If you are not one of the 1%, you are one of the 99%. Alas its the 99% who get dumped on because the 1% rely on envy, apathy, lack of knowledge et al amongst the 99% for their policys and greed to work.

Unfortunately for them that same 1% rely on the 99% for their wealth. Together we can make a differance.

[VirginVegGrower]

With ya PW

[HeyWayne]

Well, I'm at work...

[Mikey]

Well I'm working.....! On lunch.

I don't really know enough about the whole situation, but from my limited point of view I would say that public pensions do need to change.

Perhaps everyone needs to be more realistic about what they are going to get out based on what they put in. Government rather than in these difficult times asking employees to cough up more for their pension pot should reconsider how much extra from tax payers also goes into the pot.

Most private pensions are based on your own contribution, whereas public pensions have a proportion added by the tax payer. If the government dropped how much they contributed rather than asked its employees to contribute more, and reassessed what the individual got out at the end, I think that would be more appropriate.

They could allow employees to contribute extra if they wished, to ensure that their pension pot would payout at their own desired level. I appreciate that there will be public sector employees up in arms about such a suggestion, but if cuts need to be made wouldn't it be better to cut contribution rather than expect you to pay more in the current climate.

[chris]

Cardiff town is *SO* busy. I've never seen it so busy... so anyone else think the gov have engineered this whole thing to boost the retail sector?

[Mikey]

I'm sure I heard that 1 in 4 employees in Wales is employed by the public sector?

That's frightening.