Tell us the hourly rate of public servants.

2ndcoming wrote: »

I don't usually rise to trolls, but in your case I think I'll make an exception. For starters I'm not sure what your understanding of the term "pay freeze" is, but I'm even more confused as to why you put "you" in inverted commas. Is it some sort of deep philosophical questioning of my existence?

Firstly, I'm not a troll. I have been on boards for over a decade.

It's simple really, a pay freeze means that your pay stays the same. As evidenced by your statement your's hasn't so the pay freeze is a joke.

2ndcoming wrote: »

You question the right of someone who has worked full-time for 10 years since finishing school and intends to work for the next 30 to buy a basic apartment in their hometown? Really?! In retrospect I should probably wish the bank had your sour negativity back in 2007. If anything I feel sorry for you, not the other way round.

I finished college in 1996 and have worked ever since bar a few months in 2010 and I never felt it was my god given right to buy an apt/house in my home town. You only have the right to buy something if you can afford it. Your attitude is the typical L'Oreal attitude displayed by many in the PS. As stated already if you bought a house since joining the PS then you made a majorly bad decision firstly because you were spending 50% of your wages on a mortgage and secondly you obviously didn't realise what was happening in relation to the economy around you.

2ndcoming wrote: »

It's too easy to dismantle your argument by saying if public service was such a gravy train with guaranteed free money how on Earth did you let it pass you by, but I'll just say if you think my job is easy I would like to see you try it for a few weeks and see if you still feel that way. I've been very transparent with the work I do and how much I'm paid for it, would you care to enlighten us as to the details of your employment?

College Educated, Microsoft certified and currently working in a Network Infrastructure role. Does that help you to dismantle my argument?

I'm not someone that is embittered because I didn't get a CO job. As I said previously I am well aware what clerical officers do and if you find it that difficult well maybe you are not really suited to it.

I also believe in improving my place in life and a system that rewards crap workers the same as good workers doesn't appeal to me. In my opinion it attracts certain types of people although not all in the PS are like that. Working in the PS effectively seems to stifle ambition for a lot of people because of the way it operates.

2ndcoming wrote: »

Can you give me an example of the salary of someone in a similar role in a large nationwide business in the private sector with a similar customer base and workload? I didn't think so. The non availability to the public of these kinds of figures is vital to people who spout your particular brand of bile, but in my line of work, I see these figures everyday so I get a fuller picture than you or your average Indo hack, and I can assure I am not overpaid. I am relatively not well paid at all.

I can point you to the CSO stats which state that it is the lower end of the scale which has the biggest pay difference between private and public sector for comparable roles. I will tend to believe those stats rather than your over inflated egotistical importance of your clerical orfficer role.

The size of the oprganisation also has nothing to do with your role unless you are the head of the organisation, there are clerical officers in small organisations as well, are you claiming your job is better because your organisation is bigger.

I'd appreciate a response to the CSO stats which state that you are overpaid.

beeno67 wrote: »

Are people still really impressed by degrees? Having a degree is nothing major. 30-40 years ago it was impressive. Now it is the equivalent of having done the leaving 30 years ago. Get over it. It is a piece of paper no more.

All of which doesn't alter my point. Certain people on this forum seem to be suggesting that a person working for the minimum wage or close to it in a coffee shop or supermarket is comparable to, for example a teacher, who has spent at least 5 years in college, thus making a major investment in their own future in terms of both time and money.

As regards being impressed by a degree, you are correct, it is a piece of paper; but one that shows the person awarded it has invested time and money trying to improve their knowelege and skills. It also demonstrates the person holding the degree has an aptitude for at least one topic. Why do you think Aldi are advertising constantly for people with any sort of degree, and offering a package of €60 PA plus an audi A4?

beeno67 wrote: »

Are people still really impressed by degrees? Having a degree is nothing major. 30-40 years ago it was impressive. Now it is the equivalent of having done the leaving 30 years ago. Get over it. It is a piece of paper no more.

I must try that line in my next interview

2ndcoming wrote: »

I
I started in 2007 with take home pay of €405 per week, and after 5 years of the income levy, USC, pension levy, pay cut and the much celebrated increments I have take home pay of €413 per week..

That seems like quite a good deal to me.
In the real world pay cuts and tax hikes cost money - yet you're better off. In the same 5 years i've seen my basic wage drop 20%, the new USC charge, increased PRSI and i always had to pay for my own pension. The upshot is i'm down roughly €500 a month, while you're up around €35. That's a very marked difference do you not think? I could also loose my job in the morning, (in fact that's looking increasingly likely if something doesn't come our way in the fairly immediate future) yours is there no matter what, untill you decide you no longer want it.
No matter what way you look at it the public service exists in an alternate reality that is becomming further and further removed from the private sector one everyday.

2ndcoming wrote: »

My mortgage is currently €789 a month, and I'm a lucky one, I bought on the affordable housing scheme and I don't have any kids. I can get by. I fully understand how some of my colleagues with bigger mortgages and kids are actually the working poor..

Your mortgage, just like mine, is not any concern of your employers. Your bills are your own concern - my boss doesn't give a flying fúck how much i owe or to whom, why should he? Why should yours?

ted1 wrote: »

Since when is teaching a 5 year degree?

Secondary teaching: 4 year basic bachelor's degree plus 1 year HDip.

ted1 wrote: »

Isn't an arts degree 3 years?

Sure, some arts degrees are; some (Trinity) are 4. And I would like my child taught secondary maths by a teacher with a maths degree, science by a teacher with a science degree etc.

woodoo wrote: »

The pay freeze applies to the whole incremental scale. That won't go up. But people who are entitled to increments within the scale still get them.

That's not a pay freeze then.

seriously lads, this particular debate is going on fro the last few years with many of the same posters and the same positions...do we really need antoher 20 pages of it...again?

creedp wrote: »

Its entirely your right to interpret as you see fit!

As I have referred to elsewhere after 1st July next, the gross pay of a PS earning €65k will be 20% lower that it would otherwise have been if the 2009/2010/2013 pay cuts did not occur. You probably would not interpret that as a paycut but then again that is entirely your perogative.

I don't want to drag the thread onto well worn ground, but that's the most idiotic thing I've heard in a long time...

It's no wonder there's a public/private divide if people are willing to be so deliberately misleading with their phraseology.

Ridiculous tbh

AltAccount wrote: »

I don't want to drag the thread onto well worn ground, but that's the most idiotic thing I've heard in a long time...

It's no wonder there's a public/private divide if people are willing to be so deliberately misleading with their phraseology.

Ridiculous tbh

How so?

AltAccount wrote: »

Not sure what you want me to say. How would you define "freeze"?

Actually I was attempting to describe a pay cut! Given that there is no point discussing increments with you as you have made it clear how you interpret them, would you agree that a person who has had their pay cut by 20% since 2009 and not had an increment during that period has endured both a pay cut and a pay freeze?

Head The Wall wrote: »

Average Public sector wage is around 48k, divide that by say 1820 (35 x 52) and I'm being generous with those hours and you get an average hourly rate of 26.37

When you say 'average' do you refer to arithmetic mean? would it not be more accurate to look at the median wage? because there are some extraordinarily higly paid public servants bringing up the 'average' whereas the majority of people in the public service earn significantly less than the 'average'.

taato wrote: »

When you say 'average' do you refer to arithmetic mean? would it not be more accurate to look at the median wage? because there are some extraordinarily higly paid public servants bringing up the 'average' whereas the majority of people in the public service earn significantly less than the 'average'.

I'm on the phone right now but the most recent CSO quarterly figures have the median at around 47k. That blows that theory out of the water