We All Stand Together

A friend of mine has just made a list of 'Things to Do Before I Die'. I don't plan on dying any time soon, nor do I intend to make a list, not least because I'm not much good at following them. If I did have such a list, though, then last week's bit of excitement might well have been on it.

I've actually done quite a few things that might constitute "exciting". I've sung n the Albert Hall (my dad didn't come, his assessment of Walton's "Belshazzar's Feast" being "a load of bloody bollocks".) I was an extra in a film - sort of - although only my pony tail made the final cut, and only for a couple of seconds. I've played at a folk festival, I've met a few of my heros including Alan Bennett and, somewhat disappointingly as it turned out, Dean Windass (he talked in a series of grunts), and I've travelled to places as diverse as the West Bank, Malaysia and Quebec. And now I can add "singing on a charity single" to my list.

In case I haven't slammed home my lefty credentials enough on here, I should mention that I'm a Unison rep at work. You may also know that the TUC have recorded a cover of Canned Heat's "Let's Work Together", ahead of the Day of Action on 30th November, featuring a diverse group of public sector workers from across the UK. The single was released today, and you can buy it on itunes, Amazon and at various other online stores. Around 40p from each sale goes towards Age UK, so i's all in a good cause!

The aim of the single, really, is to celebrate public sector workers and what they do. There's been, predictably, a lot of negative coverage of the strike over pensions that will be going ahead on 30th, slating public sector workers, saying that it's just not the right time to go on strike, that we're fortunate to have jobs at all, that many private sector people don't have pensions so we should count ourselves lucky, we're all in this together, et cetera et cetera. Aware that most people who read this blog are probably the very "converted" to whom I shouldn't preach, here are just a few remarks on such criticism:
- Yes, many private sector workers don't have adequate pensions. That's wrong, too. Cutting public sector pensions isn't going to remedy this in any way. Everyone should get a decent pension, so once we've safeguarded our own we should also campaign for our private sector colleagues to get a good deal too.
- A pension is part of someone's pay package. Suddenly the government is asking workers to make larger contributions, work longer, then get less at the end of it. Why should someone's work conditions change like that? If you have, say, 25 days' holiday a year and your boss suddenly told you that, from now on, you'd only be getting 15, wouldn't you be a bit miffed? It's not all that different: this was in our contracts, and suddenly somebody moved the goalposts.
- Higher contributions are going to mean that more people will pull out of their pension schemes. Aside from the fact that this will jeopardise the schemes, in the long run this will cost us more as these people will then be replying on more support from taxpayers in the future when they have retired and don't have enough money to live on. Unless of course the government plans to let older people starve and freeze to death... (I wouldn't be surprised...)
- Higher contributions are neither appropriate nor practical for many people at the moment, even those who do not object in principle to the proposals, as many people (in both the private and public sectors) have faced pay freezes recently. Even those who have had pay rises have not received rises in line with inflation, so have faced a paycut in real terms. The cost of living has risen, and salaries have fallen.
- We are not "all in this together". The average pension of a FTSE 100 director is around £178,000 per year; the average public sector pension is less than £8000. This isn't exactly a fortune. While we're in the subject...
- I don't recall nurses, teachers, firemen, careers advisers, social workers, probation officers and university administrators causing the current financial crisis.
- Contrary to popular opinion, most people don't want to go on strike. Remember, you lose a day's pay when you do. It's just that it seems like the last resort. It's also a right people fought and died for in the past. Actually, many workers - including those who sang on the single - will be working on 30th, because they are nurses, midwives and those in other professions who fear that not going into work could put lives at risk. They will be supporting the strike, attending rallies and events and helping to publicise action, but not actually walking out of work.

Were my thoughts this coherent when I did an interview for Pulse Radio last week? Um, no. A clip of me saying "pensions aren't sexy, but the song is good" is currently being broadcast throughout West Yorkshire. This is why I'm sticking with the public sector and not going into the media any time soon.

Anyway. Buy the record. This will make you a good person.