George Galloway vs 3 anti-union, Pro-Public Sector Pension cuts callers

From BBC News:

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has said the government will have to "give more ground" to resolve the dispute over public sector pensions.

On BBC One's Question Time, he said he did not want to see a strike, but the offer to unions was still not "fair".

Home Secretary Theresa May said workers had been given "a better offer" and it was not right to strike.

Members of the largest public sector union, Unison, have voted to join a "day of action" on 30 November.

There was a 78% majority, with 245,358 in favour and 70,253 against on a 29% turnout.

As well as many NHS and local government staff, Unison represents police staff (though not police officers), probation officers, and clerical and ancillary staff in schools, colleges and universities, who are all in the local government pension scheme.

The "day of action" is being organised by the TUC and could involve members of 20 trade unions in the public sector.

Five already have a mandate for action from earlier this year, and if all the others vote in favour, it could be the biggest co-ordinated strike since 1979.

On Wednesday, the government offered to change its plans, which are aimed at cutting the cost of funding public service pensions at a time when life expectancy is increasing.

Mr Balls said it was "good the government is finally taking the negotiations seriously", but the lowest paid workers were still going to be "hit hard" by the proposals.

"I think both sides should be round the table talking," he said on Question Time.

"The unions will have to give some ground, but the government will have to give some more ground because at the moment what is being proposed isn't fair and this strike is entirely avoidable."

He added: "I think David Cameron wants a strike, that's the problem."

The home secretary explained why she wanted the industrial action to be scrapped.

"No I don't think it is right for them to go on strike, they have had a better offer," she said.

"There have been negotiations now over several months about this pensions deal, and the reality is that we are all living longer - that is good news - but it means people have to work longer and actually, are being asked, from the public sector, to contribute more to their pensions."

Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Williams said the government's revised offer was "a very decent proposal" that benefitted the lowest paid.

"My feeling is that the unions should now say, 'OK we have to make a sacrifice, everybody has to make a sacrifice, it isn't too extreme, we'll accept it,'" she said.

The unions say they will now examine the government's new proposals in detail, but preparations for the day of action will continue.

Among the concessions made is a proposal for more generous accrual rates - the rate at which pensions build up in value - than previously planned and higher "cost ceilings", the limit on contributions paid by the government.



In the Red corner is George Galloway. He is currently defending the title of the union workers (Dinner ladies, teachers, miners). The bookies are currently giving his odds of winning against all 3 opponents as 1/1.

In the Blue corner are the 3 neophyte debaters. Strong stalwart supporters of union busting. They are currently defending the title of Toryism. The bookies give the odds of any of the 3 winning the bout against Galloway as 10000000000000/1. Of particular note, opponent one works as a hotel manager and opponent three works as an electrician.

Let the fight begin!

Originally broadcasted on talkSPORT 4th November 2011.

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[jazzey69]

The private elite family of bankers have engineered this years ago .They want us all on the same pay and conditions. It is Communism ! run by the comasars in the EU.

Time to get out of the EU NOW !!!

[incredibleXMan]

Good point by George about certain sections of the working class having the wool pulled over their eyes. I wish they would do their own reading and not rely on The Sun and the Daily Mail. Not all, of course but it is a barrier to progress in this country.

[incredibleXMan]

When people say they don't respect certain left wingers views it really irritates me. I get the impression they don't really know what they are and furthermore their policies probably haven't really been put to the test.

[CyeOutsider]

Galloway absolutely hit the nail on the head here. Its just envy the makes people to say that others shouldn't be allowed to advocate for a pay raise because it doesn't benefit them. Absoltely spot on.

[N1k1mon]

hired us.' "He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.' When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.' "When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. When they received it, they murmured agains

[N1k1mon]

the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. To them he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, 'Why do you stand here all day idle?' "They said to him, 'Because no one has h

[N1k1mon]

Amazingly, this entire issue was dealt with quite some time ago, by a construction worker turned itinerant minister from Galilee.

Not so amazingly is that George's point was right on target, exactly the same.

There happens to be some excellent practical wisdom in the Christian scriptures in the new testament.

Matt 20:1-16 "For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with

[DrMontague]

@SuperCUNextTuesday What about the pension rights of men, women/ and children in third world countries who are grossly exploited by western capitalism. These companies make millions if not billions in profit yet the workers can hardly afford to feed themselves, Anyone who supports this vile capitalist system is no more than a child abuser.

[SuperCUNextTuesday]

@DrMontague

By insisting on this we are crippling our children with more debt, we already spend more on interest than on defence. The pensions they will get are far from shit and most of them are already paid well.

A system where a huge deficit for the employer can suddenly appear due to fluctuations in the financial markets is never a viable one. I deal with a number of companies that would be bust if they had defined benefit pension schemes, they don't work.

[shitaye12]

Hotel Manager. What a moron.