Sunday, Jan 03, 2010
Sounds like Zimbabwe........
Times: Public sector pay races ahead in recession
''Public sector workers earn 7% more on average than their peers in the private sector — a pay gulf that has more than doubled since the recession began. Official figures show that staff employed by the state are enjoying bigger pay rises, working fewer hours and receiving pensions worth up to three times as much as those in the private sector.''
Posted by hpwatcher @ 08:36 AM (1306 views) Add Comment
14 Comments
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1. dill said...
To use a phrase, common in political parlance, this is simply "unacceptable".
2. tyrellcorporation said...
There's only one place to be working in the UK - Gordon's client state. It is this structural imbalance which pretty much secures the demise of the UK as a global player.
3. Jim Green said...
Public sector average salary of a whole £22,405?! Now that's really something to be jealous of, isn't it?
The 'public sector' bogeyman is just a diversion. The real culprits in the economic mess are, and always have been the Financial Sector.
4. taffee said...
public sector serve the private sector and so pay has always been lower traditionally but terms and conditions more secure....to have this reverse is nuts.
None of what's going on now makes any economic sense at all....I fear the world is in big financial trouble....we're all 'a japan'
5. voiceofreason said...
I am pinning my hopes on a Tory victory and some much needed hacking back of the state machine...
6. Blackers said...
I agree completely with Taffee. I remember years ago seeing graphs of growth/recession - everytime Public Sector became more than 50% of GDP we went into recession - so to have more of them, earning more with little or no personal risk is as big a scandal a bankers bonuses.
.....add to that that Public Sector services around us in mid sussex are crap and yet supposed to be one of the best areas in the country makes me think Britain is bust economically, socially and psychologically crippled.
7. paul said...
This article is actually using sleight of statistics - which is why they prefer to use percentages in the article.
Most of the lower paid public sector jobs are private sector (cleaners etc.) and a lot of the higher paid jobs are private sector (consultants), so while these are listed as "workers in the public sector", they are not employed as such. Sercondly, public sector workers are generally better qualified then their private sector counterparts. Thirdly, I don't remember the Times ever mentioning private sector salaries racing ahead of public sector salaries during the good times (and they certainly did).
Last but not least, it was the prviate sector that created the recession (with some help from the weak government regulator).
8. letthemfall said...
Considering that we give short shrift to Times articles on house prices, we should similarly treat its articles on public vs private sector with disdain. This one is particularly crass, though one has to enjoy the bitterly ironic comment of the Institute of Directors about gravy trains. Many public sector salaries have declined over the last 40 years in real terms so all this stuff based on a few months is meaningless. Also we are not told how the average is calculated, nor the shape of the wage distributions, which is dichotomous in the private sector, for reasons pointed out by paul.
There is therefore nothing straight about Straight Statistics statistics. I wouldn't mind betting that the journalists involved are those who bluster on about BTL in the Times. This is nothing more than trashy politicing and stands little better than the scapegoating drivel that emanates from the BNP.
9. the number cruncher said...
Nice post paul -
I like public servants, a lot of them do a great job that helps our country. Teachers, Nurses and many other jobs help our country work efficiently and increase our wealth.
Many private sector job, are not productive and can be much more of a drag on our economy such as bankers, estate agents or loathsome parasites like speculators or buy to let landlords.
10. tom101 said...
Safe to say 6m votes going Labours way....?
11. paul said...
I'd suggest that most public sector workers are torn regarding voting tendency, actually tom101.
The very fact that its not clear cut even for them is an indictment of both Labour's divisive policies and Conservative's bluff and inexperience.
12. techieman said...
i would like to commend the posters here for their sensible comments. Headline fodder shameful really. We really should accept that there are good and bad in both sectors, in terms of security / pay / conditions and attitude of workers themselves.
The only place where i think there is a justifiable argument is toward the top end of the public sector and then in terms of final salary pensions. I am personally aware of a council that upped their last three years salary so as to ensure the base of their final salary was inflated. Perhaps that doesn't happen any more, and perhaps pay is set by an independent body - how independent is anyone's guess.
Even though i think the council workers (at the top end) can be criticised for having too much drain on society via their pensions, so too could the higher paid workers in the private sector. However - bankers notwithstanding - there is an argument that they are having that paid for by the business themselves, rather than burdening those council tax payers.
i don't know if i am shooting from the hip, but does anyone know how much of council tax is used to fund these pensions... and what the trend has been??
13. mr g said...
I agree 100% that there are good and bad in both the public and private sectors, what I find completely unacceptable about the public sector is contained in the following article which I posted earlier this week:
http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/Hundreds-are-told-Quit-now.5942168.jp
I may be wrong but I get the impression that the HR department at Calderdale Council is openly encouraging employees in the 50 to 55 age bracket to make sure that they get their early retirement applications in before the age limit rises.
Obviously human nature dictates that people will try to get the best deal possible, however, a council has obligations to the council tax payer and should be acting in the interests of the majority and not the minority but then again we mugs are simply here to support the nomenklatura.
14. tom101 said...
You may be right Paul although I don't think anyone has the experience of guiding us through this mess. I believe we need a coalition of sorts. The best candidates within the political parties led preferably by someone independent. Labour, Conservatives and Lib Dems are just too similar. I wonder how UKIP will do?