Teachers undoubtedly play a vital role in today's society. Now, more than ever, teachers are expected to perform the job of social worker, nurse, janitor and even parent to our children. However, teachers do enjoy conditions which compensate for the demands of their position:
- Short working days
- Long holidays
- Generous uncertified sick leave entitlements
- No sanctions for poor performance
- Generous pension entitlements
So when you hear teachers moaning about the pension levy it somewhat weakens their arguments against the cuts in educational spending. Everyone is taking pain in the current economic climate. When teachers whine about paying a levy to subsidise their lucrative pensions people close their minds to the valid arguments being made against the ongoing degradation of the country's education system. This plays right into the hands of a government who are counting on the various sections of Irish society turning on each other and distracting attention from the mess they have made of Ireland.
So come on teachers - no reasonable person would disagree with your campaign against cuts which are going to make life difficult for our kids. However, threatening strike action and whinging about the pension levy isn't going to earn any sympathy from the people who have lost jobs, taken pay cuts or seen their pension funds wiped out over the last few months. All you are being asked to do is make a contribution to a guaranteed pension. There is no such thing as a free lunch!
Well said Dark Passenger - I totally agree.
ReplyDeleteYou're missing the point, the government raided the €25bn sovereign wealth fund that had been establish to pay pensions to bail out private profit making businesses like AIB and BoI (the first bail out, they're broke again, the deadbeats). So the pension levy is a misnomer, it's really the bank levy. I don't see why they don't give the money directly to bank executives and shareholders, it'd be more direct and result in less paperwork.
ReplyDeleteYes Chris, the banks were bailed out with our money. Yes it was a disgrace. Yes it was a crime against the people of Ireland.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, the pay and conditions that our public servants enjoy are not sustainable. The point that I was making was that asking teachers (and all public servants) to make a contribution towards their generous pensions is fair and reasonable. Did the criminal bank bailout necessitate the introduction of the pension levy? Maybe it did. Does this change the fact that public servants should be contributing towards their pensions? No it doesn't.