Perfect weather for a strike and for picket line duty!
Sun, and temperature around 10C.

Great turnout at Exeter City Centre rally with just under 4000 union folk
and families/supporters on the rally with all unions represented including
mine - PROSPECT www.prospect.org.uk . Many met Office colleagues were with
us too fighting for a fair *negotiated* pension settlement, not a government
imposed one. First strike in the Met Office for over 30 years.

Red Will :-)
--

On 30/11/11 15:54, Eskimo Will wrote:
Perfect weather for a strike and for picket line duty!
Sun, and temperature around 10C.

Great turnout at Exeter City Centre rally with just under 4000 union
folk and families/supporters on the rally with all unions represented
including mine - PROSPECT www.prospect.org.uk . Many met Office
colleagues were with us too fighting for a fair *negotiated* pension
settlement, not a government imposed one. First strike in the Met Office
for over 30 years.

Red Will :-)

The one and only time I was on picket duty, I got a sunburnt nose. I was
Red Graham! ;-)

Whist I was on duty, A Roller crawled past in heavy traffic and a
bloated plutocrat in the back harrumphed, "why don't you go and do some
work?" The heavy traffic was because it was race day at Ascot and he was
off to the races.

A few years after I joined the Office, I realised that the final-salary
pension scheme was iniquitous and a scheme based on average earnings
throughout one's working life would be fairer. I also realised that a
so-called non-contributory scheme was going to serve us ill and should
be replaced by one that where contributions were in the open and not
removed from us during salary comparison exercises. Chickens have
finally come home to roost.

--
Graham Davis, Bracknell, Berks. E-mail: change boy to man
Teach evolution, not creationism: http://evolutionnotcreationism.org.uk/

Graham P Davis wrote:
On 30/11/11 15:54, Eskimo Will wrote:
Perfect weather for a strike and for picket line duty!
Sun, and temperature around 10C.

Great turnout at Exeter City Centre rally with just under 4000 union
folk and families/supporters on the rally with all unions represented
including mine - PROSPECT www.prospect.org.uk . Many met Office
colleagues were with us too fighting for a fair *negotiated* pension
settlement, not a government imposed one. First strike in the Met Office
for over 30 years.

Red Will :-)

The one and only time I was on picket duty, I got a sunburnt nose. I was
Red Graham! ;-)

Whist I was on duty, A Roller crawled past in heavy traffic and a
bloated plutocrat in the back harrumphed, "why don't you go and do some
work?" The heavy traffic was because it was race day at Ascot and he was
off to the races.

A few years after I joined the Office, I realised that the final-salary
pension scheme was iniquitous and a scheme based on average earnings
throughout one's working life would be fairer. I also realised that a
so-called non-contributory scheme was going to serve us ill and should
be replaced by one that where contributions were in the open and not
removed from us during salary comparison exercises. Chickens have
finally come home to roost.

---------------------------
How do you factorise average earnings to take inflation into account?
For example my £750 per annum starting salary would be approximately
£18K to someone starting the same job today. Surely if a scheme wants to
pay out less it would be more straight forward to make it say, a 30/80th
scheme instead of a 40/80th based on final salary.
Dave
Dave

Eskimo Will wrote:
Perfect weather for a strike and for picket line duty!
Sun, and temperature around 10C.

Great turnout at Exeter City Centre rally with just under 4000 union
folk and families/supporters on the rally with all unions represented
including mine - PROSPECT www.prospect.org.uk . Many met Office
colleagues were with us too fighting for a fair *negotiated* pension
settlement, not a government imposed one. First strike in the Met
Office for over 30 years.
Red Will :-)

Willy Bragg! ;o)

On 30/11/2011 15:54, Eskimo Will wrote:
Perfect weather for a strike and for picket line duty!
Sun, and temperature around 10C.

Great turnout at Exeter City Centre rally with just under 4000 union
folk and families/supporters on the rally with all unions represented
including mine - PROSPECT www.prospect.org.uk . Many met Office
colleagues were with us too fighting for a fair *negotiated* pension
settlement, not a government imposed one. First strike in the Met Office
for over 30 years.

Red Will :-)
You are now paying the price of years of Brown's profligacy
particularly with the public sector.What proportion of your lot voted to
strike ie. as a percentage of all those who could vote? What about the
human rights of those who want to work but feel intimidated by the pickets?
cc
--

On Nov 30, 5:23*pm, Blue Jet " wrote:
On 30/11/2011 15:54, Eskimo Will wrote: Perfect weather for a strike and for picket line duty!
Sun, and temperature around 10C.

Great turnout at Exeter City Centre rally with just under 4000 union
folk and families/supporters on the rally with all unions represented
including mine - PROSPECTwww.prospect.org.uk. Many met Office
colleagues were with us too fighting for a fair *negotiated* pension
settlement, not a government imposed one. First strike in the Met Office
for over 30 years.

Red Will :-)

* * You are now paying the price of years of Brown's profligacy
particularly with the public sector.What proportion of your lot voted to
strike ie. as a percentage of all those who could vote? What about the
human rights of those who want to work but feel intimidated by the pickets?


Yawn.

Nick

"Eskimo Will" wrote in message
...
Perfect weather for a strike and for picket line duty!
Sun, and temperature around 10C.

Great turnout at Exeter City Centre rally with just under 4000 union folk
and families/supporters on the rally with all unions represented including
mine - PROSPECT www.prospect.org.uk . Many met Office colleagues were with
us too fighting for a fair *negotiated* pension settlement, not a
government imposed one. First strike in the Met Office for over 30 years.


No sympathy whatsoever.
The public sector have had it too good for too long with regards
to pensions. And even the offer on the table at the moment is
far better than the deals most private sector employees get. My
pension terms were reduced some years ago, I've had one
(small) pay rise in three years and there is the constant threat of
redundancy.

So basically, be thankful for what you've got.
There are millions of workers in a far worse position than those in
the public sector.
--
Col

Bolton, Lancashire
160m asl

Col wrote:


No sympathy whatsoever.
The public sector have had it too good for too long with regards
to pensions. And even the offer on the table at the moment is
far better than the deals most private sector employees get. My
pension terms were reduced some years ago, I've had one
(small) pay rise in three years and there is the constant threat of
redundancy.

So basically, be thankful for what you've got.
There are millions of workers in a far worse position than those in
the public sector.

Couldn't afford losing a day's pay! Would have been manning the barricades
if I could! You think we're all well payed with monster cheap pensions? Just
shows you've swallowed the toey hype! I do 37 hours outdoors, £886 per
month... projected pension £2522 per year.

Get your facts right!

L

"Col" wrote in message
...

"Eskimo Will" wrote in message
...
Perfect weather for a strike and for picket line duty!
Sun, and temperature around 10C.

Great turnout at Exeter City Centre rally with just under 4000 union folk
and families/supporters on the rally with all unions represented
including mine - PROSPECT www.prospect.org.uk . Many met Office
colleagues were with us too fighting for a fair *negotiated* pension
settlement, not a government imposed one. First strike in the Met Office
for over 30 years.


No sympathy whatsoever.
The public sector have had it too good for too long with regards
to pensions. And even the offer on the table at the moment is
far better than the deals most private sector employees get. My
pension terms were reduced some years ago, I've had one
(small) pay rise in three years and there is the constant threat of
redundancy.

So basically, be thankful for what you've got.
There are millions of workers in a far worse position than those in
the public sector.

It's not a race to the bottom Col.

Pay where I work has always been below median of comparable private sector
which we have accepted given the good pensions to make up the shortfall. Now
the government want to impose another real terms pay cut over and above the
pay freeze *and* cut our pension too as well as asking us to pay more and
work longer. My union and other unions can try and do something about it and
we are and will. I'm sorry that you are not in the same position but that
doesn't mean that we should be clobbered unfairly as well if we can do
something about it.

Will
--

"Les Hemmings" wrote in message
...
Col wrote:


No sympathy whatsoever.
The public sector have had it too good for too long with regards
to pensions. And even the offer on the table at the moment is
far better than the deals most private sector employees get. My
pension terms were reduced some years ago, I've had one
(small) pay rise in three years and there is the constant threat of
redundancy.

So basically, be thankful for what you've got.
There are millions of workers in a far worse position than those in
the public sector.

Couldn't afford losing a day's pay! Would have been manning the barricades
if I could! You think we're all well payed with monster cheap pensions?
Just shows you've swallowed the toey hype! I do 37 hours outdoors, £886
per month... projected pension £2522 per year.

Get your facts right!

The pension terms are far better than most in the private sector, that is
not in dispute by independent bodies. A lot of people, especially the self
employed, don't even have a private pension.

Cuts have to be made. It seems reasonable that the very generous public
sector pensions should be trimmed back somewhat. What makes you think
that you should get far better pension terms than those in the private
sector?

Wake up and smell the coffee, and start to understand just how poor the
pension provision is for others, and how selfish you are being in expecting
the taxpayer to bankroll a pension most in the peivate sector can only
dream about.
--
Col

Bolton, Lancashire
160m asl