No payrises in benchmarking ? "Shock"

Public servants to get no pay rise under benchmarking

The Benchmarking Body is reportedly set to recommend no pay rises for the majority of public sector employees when its latest set of proposals are published this week.

Reports this morning say the body has concluded that pay increases are not justified due to the high value of public-sector pensions compared to those in the private sector.
It will reportedly point out that public-sector pensions are 15% more valuable than those in the private sector.
The Benchmarking Body was set up to review the salaries of around 300,000 public sector employees and ensure they are in line with equivalent wage rates in the private sector.

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Finally !!!

What will the unions do if this happens ? Freak out ? Strike ? Fall in behind FG ?

Believe it or no I actually got a pay cut in the last round of public service benchmarking !!! And if nobody believes me I have the payslips to prove it....

Benchmarking is in line with inflation and for some of us its less than that !!

Great !!

Now perhaps they'll experience what some of us in the private sector have to put up with in the real world.

Does this mean that someone earning 35K in public sector has the same amount of disposable income as someone earning 35K in private sector? private sector has higher disposable income...that is not taken into account..

private sector person just chooses not to put it into a pension!

private sector has higher disposable income...that is not taken into account..

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How do you come to that conclusion?

triplex said:

Does this mean that someone earning 35K in public sector has the same amount of disposable income as someone earning 35K in private sector? private sector has higher disposable income...that is not taken into account..

private sector person just chooses not to put it into a pension!

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Rubbish. The public sector pensions are paid for partially by those who enjoy their benefits but mainly by taxes paid by private sector workers. Valuing the public sector pension as being worth an extra 15% top up on salary is very conservative. When better terms and conditions, a generally better working environment and a laughably short week are taken into account the figure should be higher again.
If this round of benchmarking delivers significant pay cuts across the board in the public sector then the benchmarking body will be doing its job. Anything less will fall short.

I heard some joker from the unions on RTE’s morning Ireland today spouting about how benchmarking was about reducing pay inequality etc. and pay increases for those who run semi-state companies would have to be looked at etc. Well the good news, Comrade, is that we do not live in a communist “utopia” and one of the things that western democracies have in common is that if you are very good at your job and you work you ass off to get to the top you are paid accordingly. If the market price for a CEO for a major company is half a million then that’s what they are worth and that’s what they should get paid. I know the unions would like some spineless stooge running the show that they can push around so that they could screw up the company (which is what they are good at), but thankfully the revolution is a while off yet…

As a public servant, I am not surprised, and did not expect, a payrise under Benchmarking. The reason the benchmarking body was set up was to try and equalise pay rates between public and private sector. At that time, I was considering leaving the public sector as friends of mine in the private sector were getting more money than me for similar type employment. Benchmarking delivered a rise that brought me up that pay level and I hung on in there. Since then, their position has worsened and I now find myself ahead of them.

The problem with Public Sector Pay is that it is set in stone due to the security of tenure that that sector enjoys, whereas private sector turns over staff frequently and therefore can set a new rate of pay as economy/demand dictates when advertising posts.

Welfarite said:

As a public servant, I am not surprised, and did not expect, a payrise under Benchmarking. The reason the benchmarking body was set up was to try and equalise pay rates between public and private sector. At that time, I was considering leaving the public sector as friends of mine in the private sector were getting more money than me for similar type employment. Benchmarking delivered a rise that brought me up that pay level and I hung on in there. Since then, their position has worsened and I now find myself ahead of them.

The problem with Public Sector Pay is that it is set in stone due to the security of tenure that that sector enjoys, whereas private sector turns over staff frequently and therefore can set a new rate of pay as economy/demand dictates when advertising posts.

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Good post, good points.

The unions seem to assume that benchmarking is simply another phrase for big round of payrises and seem to forget that payrises are awarded under 'sustaining progress' and that this is due for renegotiation this year. in my mind the benchmarking report will show that there is now parity between public and private sector workers (finally taking into account the pensions etc) and that there is no need for rises to ensure this equality - so what's the unions major issue?

I also read in the Irish times that they have threatened to stop 'modernisation' if they don't see their members get payrises etc.

Westbound said:

I also read in the Irish times that they have threatened to stop 'modernisation' if they don't see their members get payrises etc.

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What, unions holding the country to ransom?! That will never happen.

Purple said:

The public sector pensions are paid for partially by those who enjoy their benefits but mainly by taxes paid by private sector workers. Valuing the public sector pension as being worth an extra 15% top up on salary is very conservative. When better terms and conditions, a generally better working environment and a laughably short week are taken into account the figure should be higher again.
If this round of benchmarking delivers significant pay cuts across the board in the public sector then the benchmarking body will be doing its job. Anything less will fall short.

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Well said. Everyone around the world who looks at Irish public sector pay and conditions, hours, pensions etc is truly shocked. Do not forget that despite the massive aid we have received from Europe over the past number of decades, the Irish govt still had to borrow tens of billions of euro to keep the show on the road. Money which the Irish productive sector will have to pay back sometime - plus interest , in an increasingly changing and competitive world.

rabbit said:

Well said. Everyone around the world who looks at Irish public sector pay and conditions, hours, pensions etc is truly shocked.

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Given that Irish politicans linked themselves to public service pay, dont expect change anytime soon...The German Ambasador was so spot on..

Westbound said:

I also read in the Irish times that they have threatened to stop 'modernisation' if they don't see their members get payrises etc.

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I can see it now .... placards with "NO MORE MODERNISATION - WE LIKE THINGS AS THEY ARE NOW"
or "PRESERVE THE PAST - NO MORE CHANGE"

Isn't the word 'conservative' used to describe resistance to 'modernisation' ? The Unions would be showing themselves up as the bastions of conservatism that they really are.

Westbound said:

I also read in the Irish times that they have threatened to stop 'modernisation' if they don't see their members get payrises etc.

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I don't know how they can threaten to stop something that hasn't even started!

Westbound said:

I also read in the Irish times that they have threatened to stop 'modernisation' if they don't see their members get payrises etc.

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There is no need to threaten to stop modernisation, they are already doing it, as evidenced by that one guy who went on unofficial strike and stopped Dublin - Cork train services this week.

They are a cancer on society. They seek to drag up back into 1920's style collectivism and punish hard work and entrepreneurial activity.

What is the actual cost of employing the public servants ?

How much would it cost to dump 20% of them onto the redundancy list and make the rest cover their roles?
Considering the amount of inefficiency, it wouldn't amount to much additional work anyway. They may have to cut down on the number of tea breaks and actually work the 35 hour week tho, so I can't see them agreeing to that !

Why should people receive pay rises for inefficiency of a gross kind. They get pensions & annual leave that those in the private sector can only dream of and lets not even mention job security.
I heard recently of a Civil Service dept which moved offices to a new fully modernized building, less than 200 meters from existing building…to compensate for this trauma and upheaval all staff received 3 days annual leave to compensate

Awh bless, the poor dears must have needed counselling to help them recover!

bamboozle said:

Why should people receive pay rises for inefficiency of a gross kind. They get pensions & annual leave that those in the private sector can only dream of and lets not even mention job security.
I heard recently of a Civil Service dept which moved offices to a new fully modernized building, less than 200 meters from existing building…to compensate for this trauma and upheaval all staff received 3 days annual leave to compensate

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Sickening. They put their hand into your pocket for the cash to pay for it as well.