The disgustingly selfish public sector strikes of Nov 30

Today's strikes are an exercise in selfishness. Ironically typical of the left to hypocritically put their own material gain ahead of the group. The economy was crippled by debt (exposed through bad banking practice, propped up by social democrats) thanks to the kind of people now trying to bring it to its knees because they want someone else (lower paid private sector workers) to pay for it. Those supporting strike action (which will hurt the poorest the most) should be ashamed of themselves.

On the public sector pension deal put to workers by the coalition government, Ros Altmann, director general of Saga, twice recipient of the Pensions Personality of the Year Award and a governor and non-executive director of the London School of Economics said, "This is a fantastic deal for public sector workers but it is a worse deal for the taxpayer." She finds it astonishing that some public sector workers would considering rejecting the government's offer.

Union barons might talk about the treasury robbing the pension pots of civil servants, but where did the money come from in the first place? Tax payers including those in the private sector who on average are less well paid and have lower pensions are forced to prop up a vast public sector, not designed to give those tax payers quality services with good value for money, but as a charity for union members. Despite the fact that the private sector generates the wealth that fuels increases in living standards, the unions want to have as many people as possible employed in a public sector which rather than generating wealth, squanders it instead. The rich oligarchs which run the unions do so like a church, spreading lies and fear in order to swell their ill-informed congregations so the leaders can get rich in the process (usually to the detriment of their members). If you are unsure what the pay packets of union leaders are like take a look at this TPA report.  


To make matters worse, these strikes have been voted for by a small minority of public sector workers, giving them no legitimacy whatsoever; more people are drawing on their pensions than are paying into them; and public sector workers are drawing far higher pensions than they contribute, with tax payers having to make up the rest whilst cutting back themselves.

With the public sector being so massively inefficient and full of jobs that don't need doing, the government should take this opportunity to eliminate waste. How hard will the country be hit by the not showing up to work of a "walking co-ordinator", "roller disco coach", "bouncy castle attendant", "cheer-leading development officer", "future shape programme manager" and "Nuclear Free Local Authorities policy officer" or even the hundreds of diversity officers?

"There is a lot of waste," says, Neil O'Brien, director of the Policy Exchange think tank. "But most of that is not in overtly weird jobs but massive increases in pay and staff numbers. The median hourly salary is now 30% higher in the public sector than the private sector."

The public sector workers who are walking out on strike today should count themselves lucky that they have been allowed to get away with this situation for so long and they should come to the realisation that it is going to have to stop. They are not victims, they are the problem, and whilst there are many within the public sector providing vital services that we as a society rely on (albeit with massive inefficiency and waste) they have to cut back and live within their means to the same extent as everyone else.