Protesters man PCS union picket lines in city centre

“Redstar - I have nothing against public sector workers apart from their penchant for going on strike at the drop of a hat!! However your argument about uncollected tax falls down a little as the people that are meant to collect it are public sector workers!!
markiegj - Congratulations on your payrise, you are very lucky as most of us haven't had anything”

“Guys, having been to the HMRC office in Hanley and the Job Centre in Newcastle, and seen how much time they seem to have on their hands to gossip, I can tell you that these public service workers do not know how lucky they are. They should spend a week or two in the Private sector where they would find out what real work, pay and conditions really are. They really do need to get into the real world where you are paid on results and increased productivity.”

“Guess what - £120bn of tax is evaded, avoided and uncollected in this country every year. If we stop beating each other up 'public' and 'private' and get after the real villains here - the tax dodgers and the bankers who created this crisis - then we would all be better off as a society!

This division between workers is toxic. If we are ever to have a fair society then we must support each other.

I know lots of public sector workers. They want all their private sector comrades to have better pensions, and better pay too. Its about fairness - they do a good valuable job for society and so do workers in the private sector. We are all tax-payers.

Having seen a report from CAB, if it were not for public sector wages supporting the local economy then the tumbleweed really would be blowing through Stoke-on-Trent!

Let's stop all this private good, public sector bad and wasteful nonesense. Both sectors thrive off each other. Without one the other would fall. Let's face it - we are just doing the Governments dirty work for them - they give tax breaks for millionaires - its not public sector pay thats killing the economy its because those who can should pay more...”

“The government has today warned all civil servants not to look out of the window all morning .
If they do , they'll have nothing to do in the afternoon .”

“Not sure why people keep comparing private and public sector workers. This Government attacks both taking away your rights and then tries to play one off against the other. I have worked for both and can tell you that the grass is not greener on either side. Private world everything is about money and not people.

They have taken away your right to employment tribunal after one year and put it to two. Its amazing to think that people seem to see a decent pension as a perk it should be the norm. Its not because instead of the government forcing private companies to make a better system that is fair, they take away public sector workers.

Everything is going up in price but public sector workers have had to put up with no pay increase. Private sector wise I have been given a 1% pay rise last year (mind you the company made 1 billion in profit).”

“stokieme...people working in the private sector may not like it, but they understand that the pay cuts etc are necessary to safeguard the businesses that they work in. The public sector response...lets go on strike!”

“Mowcopman

Not sure where you studied maths, 13% indeed, the Governments own figures put inflation over the last 6 years at 24% (no I did not just add inflation 6 times), comsumer watchdogs put it over 40%.

Again industry figues put private sector pay up by 20% since 2007

Most public sector have had pay cuts as well, and because of mass job loses have had their workload trebled. When I say no pay rise since 2007, this means no rise, not even cost of living rises, that what no pay rise means.

You say if they don't like it find another job, leave, same to private sector then mate”

“Many many people have not had pay rises in the private sector either, have even smaller pensions, less holiday, less benefits so I don't see the problem. Also if you calculate inflation using proper maths it is not cumulative and the actual rate since 2007 is 13% not 24%. If you've had a cost of living increase you're keeping up with inflation or only a little bit behind. Public sector jobs on all levels are now ABOVE equivalent work in the private sector, yes lots of them are lower paid jobs but then that's how life operates just deal with it.”

“Mowcopman

Back in the real world, yeah right, I work in the Public Sector, not had a pay rise since 2007, so taking inflation into account, I am now 24% (that is using the government rate of inflation, using comsumer watchdog inflation this would be closer to 45%) worse off. In the Private Sector, pay has increased by 20% since 2007 for the average worker.

Bosses in the Public Sector have seen pay increase by over 30% (they also receive annual bonuses on top of their inflated salary).

Don't believe the government figures regarding pay and pensions, the average worker in the Public Sector are lowly paid and receive small pensions. But when averages are used (using senior civil servants), then public sector seem well off, but the workers forced to take action are not.”

“If you don't like working in the public sector you could always leave? Back in the real world people lose their jobs, have their fringe benefits cut and their hours extended. It's called hard work and is the norm in the private sector.

Why do public sector workers think they are so important and deserve all these extra benefits? I'm sure many of them do great work but so do lots of other people who are not employed by the state.”