Workers of the UK should unite over pensions

This week public sector Unison voted to strike on 30 November. Their 1.1 million strong membership includes dinner ladies, bin men and nurses who will be joining the members of other unions like Public and Commercial Services union, Association of Teachers and Lecturers and the National Union of Teachers on the day of mass action. Not all members voted to walk out, but across all the organisations the number of ordinary people who are going to lose a day's pay is much higher than the number who think spending the billions on another Greek bail out is a good idea.

The strike on 30th is about public section pensions. The coalition is raising the retirement age to 66, introducing a contributions increase of 3.2% and linking pension increases to the CPI rate of inflation, not the typically higher RPI. This benefit is now being used by the government and elements of the media to divide working people. "Those lucky public sector workers, their pensions are still more than you're going to get, what have they got to strike about?" This sort of thing can work on us potless private sector workers who are sans-pension; preferring to rely on the lottery as a financial strategy to avoid a dotage smeared in our own faeces.

[Comment:MOD hires consultants to sack soldiers]

Before being divided and ruled it may be worth thinking on about who is blaming public sector workers: in an exclusive in 'The Sun' the Chancellor stated: "To go on strike because you are being offered a better pension than your next-door neighbour at a time when maybe your next-door neighbour is facing losing their job is something that is very difficult to justify." Firstly paper's employment road show was called "Sunemployment", proving they are unable to write or do anything without making a lame pun out of it; secondly News International laid off the whole staff of The News of the World making 200 people "Sunemployed" to save Rebekah Brooks who subsequently got a £3.5 million from sugar daddy Rupert; and lastly Gideon 'George' Osborne is sitting on a multi-million pound trust fund stashed there by his parents Sir Peter Osborne, 17th Baronet and Felicity Alexandra Loxton-Peacock and so could give up chancelloring tomorrow with no money worries.

I would blame some public sector workers for the strikes though. They take a month for summer and another month at Christmas and have lots of breaks in between, they have massive expense accounts so they don't have to spend their wages 'The Guardian' says they: "…have among the most generous schemes in the public sector — they can contribute 11.9%, 7.9% or 5.9% of their £65,738 salary, with generous incentives. They still receive a final salary payout when they retire."

They are of course MPs, the very people trying to screw everyone else in the most blatant case of do as we say not as we do the hypocritical realm of politics has yet seen.I haven't mentioned bankers and their mega bonuses yet as it just goes without saying how the people who caused our current predicament are all able to retire at the ripe old age of 32 safe in the knowledge their pension cauldron will keep them on the golf course into their 90s. The same goes for company directors whose pay has soared during the current crisis, while they have relentless laid people off. If it's clear that ordinary working people aren't to blame for the strikes and that anger should be focused on the privileged elites who are claiming these cuts are necessary.