Firefighters set to strike.

dumbmayhem said:
Glaucus off topic, what do you do as a living?
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Railway, not that it makes the slihtest bit of difference.

Some of you simply arent pying in enough to cover your pension, thats really al there is to it. Feel disgruntled if you think you were promised or lied to, but to strike is stupid.
 
There's a hell of a lot i'd love to post to you but ill keep it in and not get banned.

The strike is stupid, how else do you deal with it then? Drop your pants, and accept whats coming to you?
 
dumbmayhem said:
The strike is stupid, how else do you deal with it then? Drop your pants, and accept whats coming to you?
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When its resonable yes.
I never steiked with change of pension and im sure it will change many times before I retire. Despite RMT wanting to strike when ever govemnet sneezes.

Pensions ahve to change to become sustinab and that mean spaying your way. Not expecting mooney folr nothing, which is what is hhappenikng at the moment. You arent paying enough to cover your pension pot. It really is as simple as that.
 
I find discussions like this terribly depressing. They're frequently fueled by unhelpful, largely inaccurate emotive statements from both sides, most of which boil down to the differing views on public and private sector employment.
 
dumbmayhem said:
I would also like to ask the people "against us" to look at the way the MP's run their job. They get yearly pay rises, pay less into a pension with better benefits, a free bar, travel expenses, second homes fully furnished and yet they are cutting the firefighters, police, nurses etc etc. Is this correct?

This may not be the best post in the world as I have so much to say on the topic and it's hard to fit it in, but we've been negotiating with the Gov't for 2 years on this, and in July they put an offer on the table and said take it or leave it. That's why we're striking. As I said at the start, I don't want to strike, but if it's for my pension and my future - then I will.
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It cheeses me off how the media and masses don't put the politicians pensions in the spotlight. Everyone is getting cuts except Westminster. Yet Westminster is getting 20k wage rises for 2015 for doing bugger all.

Some of the big name politicians should get a weeks ride along with some of the fire stations like how Sky covered A&E to shame Hunt into doing something for them, supposedly.

SueBo said:
Completely selfish for firemen to strike, it shouldn't be allowed
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Is this lame sarcasm? politicians shouldn't be cutting services making their jobs so much harder. Then they wouldn't have to strike.

I'm always amazed like in the past when the fire services went on strike as the green goddesses came out, how cautious the public became. Yet once they all went back to service, the masses are back to being careless.
 
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V F said:
Is this lame sarcasm? politicians shouldn't be cutting services making their jobs so much harder. Then they wouldn't have to strike.
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Im not being sarcastic, its dangerous if firemen are allowed to strike, imagine if the police, firemen and ambulance all decided to strike at the same time? There would be bedlam. It should be against the law for emergency people to strike.
 
Politicians screwing with crucial services is dangerous. We're only here where we are because politicians keep meddling.
 
phonemonkey said:
I fully support the Fire Brigade.

I deliver babies over the phone, talk 80 year old grandmothers through CPR as she attempts to revive the husband of 30 years, get abused by drunks who feel that they can tell me how to do my job because they've done a 1 day first aid course 4 years ago on a daily basis.

I've talked an inconsolable father through the resuscitation of his 3 year old daughter, calmed down the lorry driver who was doing 70 up a duel carriage way before hitting a person, stopping and heading back to find the bits of person that were left scattered on the carriage way. I've offered a shoulder to cry on for the suicidal sexual abuse victim and even had people confess murder to me. I've spent days at a time in a court room, waiting to give evidence, and I spend hours of my own time doing 'professional development' because the service I work for requires a number of training hours for recertification but does not offer protected learning time in which to do it.

I've also worked the last 3 Christmas Eve's and Christmas Days for no extra pay, and will work New Years Eve for no extra pay this year. This has meant I haven't spent a festive period with my family since I started my job. I work 12 hour shifts, both day and nights, which impacts on my health and social life.

I earn £18,000 a year. I've not had a pay rise since I started.

As a result I understand a fraction of the pressure my colleagues 'out on the road' feel.
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cant argue with that, sums up the situation all of those in the emergency services have to deal with
 
dumbmayhem said:
There's a hell of a lot i'd love to post to you but ill keep it in and not get banned.

The strike is stupid, how else do you deal with it then? Drop your pants, and accept whats coming to you?
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So what services do you want to see cut or what taxes do you want to see rise to pay for your pensions?
 
Firefighters do a lot of good community work - why can't this be done by the more senior members - the school visits, prevention etc so they can pass on their experience etc?

Genuine question - as a long term career path. I don't really know much about the fire service bar them getting people out of vehicles for me and on shared exercises. Could they spend say 45-50 training and getting ready for a 50-60 career service in Fire Prevention?
 
Xordium said:
Firefighters do a lot of good community work - why can't this be done by the more senior members - the school visits, prevention etc so they can pass on their experience etc?

Genuine question - as a long term career path. I don't really know much about the fire service bar them getting people out of vehicles for me and on shared exercises. Could they spend say 45-50 training and getting ready for a 50-60 career service in Fire Prevention?
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quick stone him to death he speaks with the tongue of common sense.

you would think it would be that simple, the fire service do a lot more than pulling people out of burning houses and upside down corsas.

education hydrant checks school visits fitting smoke alarms etc etc etc.

if the fire services wanted to they could allocate this work to the more senior staff and move them off the front line as their fitness drops
 
phonemonkey said:
I've also worked the last 3 Christmas Eve's and Christmas Days for no extra pay, and will work New Years Eve for no extra pay this year.
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Christmas day I'll grant you, but Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve aren't recognised bank holidays. I've worked them in most jobs I've done for no extra pay too (retail and office jobs).
 
dumbmayhem said:
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While I understand your position I'm afraid I cannot sympathize.

My private pension has taken a serious nose dive over the last 5 years due to bankers being greedy, bad investments, fraud etc etc. None of this is my fault but is a simply a risk you take by investing in pensions and a fact of life.

My company pension has fared slightly better but still could be better.

I now have 2 options to maintain my income in retirement as I don't have the government to blame and I'm thankfully not backed by a greedy money grabbing union. These are:

- put more money in
- take less out

It's really that simple in reality.

I have 2 questions though:

1: Has anything stopped you paying into a private pension?
2: Do you get annual pension statements and review them?
 
Well, I received my annual pension report and it was what I expected given that I contribute 13% (soon to be 15%) to my pension, then I was informed of the new Firefighter pension calculator that Westminster have issued. Quelle surprise, 30% lopped off my annual pension and 60% lopped off my lump sum. As far as contributions from the employer go, it's a 1:1. This is the lowest rate of any employer in the public sector and substantially below that of civil servants (1:4) and MPs (1:7). To answer Mancubus, it's a case of me putting more in and Westminster taking more out.

If that wasn't bad enough, I've also to work an extra 8 years and continue to contribute to the pension even though I'll get no more out. An extra kick to the teeth is that if those in their later years cannot pass a fitness test designed for a 20 year old, they will be put out of the job on the grounds of capability and will only be able to access half of their pension with the other 50% deferred until they are 68. Fair?
 
Talking to an ex-firefighter (station manager) the career length is already hamstrung to 30 years because of pension. He was saying that once you get to 30 years of service, you are effectively working for nothing which is why many quit and take up a small job and sit on the pension. I don't blame them either.

In our conversation, he said he took early retirement at 50 (because he had over 30 years) with over £100k.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11446831
 
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