Ireland: Public Sector: Pay-Cut?

JordyWordy

So. wanted some opinions from anyone whos been following this here.

Thousands of civil servants and public workers are refusing 7-10% (not even sure anymore what figures theyre talking about) paycuts that would save the economy millions.

Do you think theyre right? Why should they have to suffer??

Or do you think theres record unemployment and the only people in the country with guaranteed jobs for life should take the fucking pay cut?

PS: My opinion: Nurses & teachers - they shouldnt have to take paycuts. under no circumstances. Health Board, All the paper-pushing beaurocracy that Bertie created to give his mates cushy jobs that tie-up public money - THEY should foot the bill.

I heard people on bus bitching that higher end people like solicitors should have wages capped instead, not the public workers........ Most law firms here are struggling and 1500 solicitors have gone on the dole in the last 2 months..... theres 2 sides to this, but whats the best solution??

Thoughts, opinions and rants welcome

Commy

I"m so sick of the wealthy minority looking to the middle class to find money, when they should be looking in the mirror. in general europe is better at maintaining a middle class than the US, but this is just one example of how they go about trying to fuck the working class. in the US this would have already passed, hope it sees more resistance in Ireland. there's plenty of money, no need to try and stiff the working class.

Heineken Helen

my brother's in the army so he'll be one of these. He doesn't like it of course but he's also well aware that he's lucky to have a job and that at least it means he'll still have a job so he's kinda in favour of it. Even though he's been there long enough that they wouldn't contractually be able to get rid of him but only those who came from a few years after him with weaker contracts.

My boyfriend also took a temp pay cut recently and he's of the same opinion... I kinda am too. As somebody who's struggling to find a job right now, I know I wouldn't be happy with it but at the same time, it means everyone gets to keep their jobs.

QuarterToTen

having a job for life, and all of the peace of mind that it brings,
would substantially ease the blow of a decrease in wages. sometimes there is no other choice.

we can all somehow manage to make do with less,
but to make do with nothing is a far bigger, more frightening challenge.

Irish Al

QuarterToTen wrote:

having a job for life, and all of the peace of mind that it brings,
would substantially ease the blow of a decrease in wages. sometimes there is no other choice.

we can all somehow manage to make do with less,
but to make do with nothing is a far bigger, more frightening challenge.

I have to say that I hate this term "job for life"...I'm afraid it doesn't exist in most of the civil service anymore. I get paid by the gov but I certainly dont have a job for life and ask the many nurses and teachers etc out their who are not able to find full-time work, how they feel about it.

I know that I am lucky to have a job and while I dont want to take a paycut, I know the country is up the shit and I know that I have to. But the gov are very clever. They use the media to get the different sides (public & private sector) fighting each other and saying that the other side are to blame etc when we've had a gov and banking institutions destroying our country right before our eyes and because things were so good, people took no notice.

215 people have been sent to prison in Ireland for defaulting on loans they couldnt sustain. the highest level banking officials have had nothing yet and they have defrauded BILLIONS of our money and now the gov are giving the banks €7 billion to recapitalise and guess where the money is coming from...yes the public sector cuts.

Teachers in our schools must produce a sick note for 1-days leave or their class will not be covered. If they are involved in a sports team in the school, their classes will not be covered for matches etc. Class sizes are increasing to well over 30 per class...so who's going to lose out...the kids. We already have an obesity problem with our young people, how is this gonna help, and how will it manifest in10 years time...more strain on an already destroyed Health Service.

i know the gov have had to balance the books but there is no forward thinking (I suppose thats what got us into this mess in the first place) and things are just gonna get crazy in years to come.

:evil: Not happy with the way the Irish people are being treated :evil:

QuarterToTen

Irish Al wrote:

Class sizes are increasing to well over 30 per class...so who's going to lose out...the kids. We already have an obesity problem with our young people, how is this gonna help, and how will it manifest in10 years time...more strain on an already destroyed Health Service.

exactly.

if we don't educate our children properly, instill a good work/study work ethic from the very beginning,
that is by far the most detrimental mistake a country can make.

increasing class sizes and cutting pay certainly doesn't promote a positive, enthusiastic
attitude or environment for our educators.

it causes a tremendous amount of resentment and complacency.

i truly wish you luck.