Hello
We had a hell of a lot of fire and brimstone from listeners this morning. At least two newspapers had photographs on the front page of traffic jams snaking towards the North yesterday and public sector workers were accused of using the strike day to go shopping.
It’s an accusation that simply cannot be verified. There will, of course, have been some who used the day to head north, but there were many families who probably made the journey because children were off school or because they are contracted from the private sector to the public sector and couldn’t work yesterday.
Ivan’s theory is that the exodus to the North proves that the public sector is overpaid. He says that our sales taxes are high to pay the public sector wage bill and those who get salaries from the State are spending it outside the country.
I’m not so sure about pointing the finger at the public sector. Firstly, it achieves nothing. Nor does striking for that matter and the prospect of another day of action is as depressing as today’s weather. But what we in the private sector have to try to understand is that those in the public sector have suffered in this recession too.
Their salaries have been reduced – even if the pension benefit is coming down the line, the amount that these workers get now to pay the bills is less than it was before the pension levy was introduced. Furthermore, the public sector has been the target of intense criticism and pressure to succumb to further cuts for months now. No wonder there is a quasi-war underway.
Those who are on low pay in the public sector have mortgages and bills to pay too and are worried and fearful for the future. This is no different for the people who work for private companies. The private sector has endured pay cuts, commissions have been slashed, bonuses are a thing of the past and for hundreds of thousands of people, a pay cut of 100% and the dole queue has become a new reality.
We were inundated with text messages from both sides yet again today. The bitterness expressed is pointless and gets us nowhere, fast. We need to deal with this national emergency together – reasonably and sensibly and no section of Irish society should be expected to take all the pain while others get away unscathed.
I’d really like to hear your views on the situation.
Claire
The people of Ireland have a government and public service they deserves.
Berties greatest legacy – a overpaid, underworked public service shopping in the North and living in lala land.
November 27, 2009 at 10:59 pmThe International, business leaders, media and political class are looking in on poor little old Ireland (Roy Keane wasnt too far wrong there),,with a mixture of disbelief and humour today…. recent events although serious i.e. lack of response to recent flooding, collapse of celtic tiger, NAMA, bank guarantees, asking to be added to the world cup, dodgy developers, corrupt fas, corrupt politicians,, public sector strikes,,, THE WORLD IS WATCHING to see if we are capable of dealing with these issues and getting ourselves (the whole population) out of this mess that we were ultimately responsible for getting ourselves into……. €500million is being borrowed everyweek just to finance the public sector,,, now we are being loaned this money on the basis that we can get the current public expenditure deficit in order…. to the tune of 4billion per year (just to keep the lending at 500million per week),,, a failure to do this will result in these loans being withdrawn,, we would essentially become as a country uninvestable……
agreed solution cut 4 billion in public expenditure,, 1.3billion of this to be in public sector pay,,, govt adamant that pay cuts are the only way,,, they will make the tough decisions and do what needs to be done,,,enter the gangsters that are the grossly overpaid union leaders,, day of action (shopping),, vital operations cancelled, social welfare payments delayed, services disrupted,,, country essentially held to ransom,, govt and union leaders go into talks and it emerges that rather than taking a pay cut of 5% (private sector people who are lucky to still be employed have taken min, 25-30% pay cut),,,,,it has been agreed that instead of a pay cut public sector workers will have to take 12 days unpaid leave,,, now there are important aspects of this agreement;
1. It highlights that the public sector is grossly overstaffed that its union leaders believe it can still run effectively with this additional leave by all of its employees.
2. It will result in a reduction in service, this in a health service that already has waiting lists on beds, operations, services.
3. It will only save the govt estimated €500 million, well short of the required 1.3 billion.
4. overtime / temporary staffing in the public sector will rocket as people required to fill in for those on additional 12 days unpaid leave.
5. The most important aspect,,, the international world is watching….. and seeing us for the weak, unimaginative bickering population unable to come together make the tough decisions , work hard and get ourselves out of this mess,,,, ARE WE INCAPABLE OF GOVERNING OURSELVES,, when union leaders who with their own agenda to justify their subscription fees,, are allowed to hold this country to ransom,, to militaristically galvanise their members (who should know better) and run this country into the ground,,, and we have a spineless govt,, who did everything humanly possible to get us into this mess bowing to union demands,, nowherelse in the world would you see it,,,
I truly believe we were on the edge of the cliff up to now,, but this latest fiasco im afraid will be the one to push us over the edge,,,shame on us all for allowing this to happen, shame on the govt , shame on the developers, the bankers, the greedy union leaders and the public sector (sheep) who have been led by union leaders who do not have the countries interests at heart…….BRING IN THE IMF (IF THEY WILL TAKE US),, WATCH THEM SLASH PUBLIC PAY, EXPENDITURE, WATCH HOMELESSNESS, CRIME, SUICIDE, EMIGRATION AND POVERTY RAVAGE THE MOST VUNERABLE IN OUR SOCIETY,,, but not to worry, the fat cat politicians, bankers, union leaders will be fine,, they have their money made,,, made off the backs of the vunerable,,, made off the backs of the ordinary joe who will be given the task of sacrificing a decent standard of living so that the greedy can continue to tell us “THAT WE ARE LIVING WAY BEYOND OUR MEANS”…
we should all apologise now to our, sons, daughters neices, nephews, grandchildren, for the noose were going to hang around their necks for generations to come,,, what kind of a future do they have to look forward to,,,shame shame shame…..
December 3, 2009 at 12:10 pmWe need strong leadership and collaboration across all sectors of society to get through this very difficult time.
I am more depressed by our unseemly bickering and lack of unity – we are like a dysfunctional family who can’t get passed the wrongs of the past. We won’t get a family counsellor, we’ll get the IMF ic we don’t pull back from this destructive behaviour.
To the outside world, we must at least appear to hold our heads high especially now and more than ever show we believe in ourselves and our ability to get through this. I know this is obvious but we cannot survive and progress as individuals fighting among ourselves – we are a society, protect the weak and pull together for the good of all.
Like I said, listening to sectional interests everyday is more depressing than having less money. Life is harder but it was harder before and we will get through this. I graduated in the early 80s and emigrated. I came back in the 90s. The last decade has been a bonus but it wasn’t normality. So let’s get real and help each other through this – like people are doing in the flooded areas. This is a time for national government and a strong national identity. Let’s show loyalty to each other and this island.
We need a plan, we need to know what it is, how much it will cost us and how long it will take. When I take on a project, these are minimum requirements and I need to communicate them to get buy-in. I expect this kind of basic professionalism and pragmatism from whatever government we have. I really want us to stop and think clearly about our next steps and please stop the recrimination!
December 11, 2009 at 8:05 am