Madam, - A current advertising campaign for Eagle Star has a tag line which says: "There is no pension like an Eagle Star pension". However, no matter how good the claims of this particular pension provider, all of us in the private sector facing the need to finance our own pensions know full well there is actually "no pension like a public sector pension".
The latest bus strike and the disgruntled statements coming from the public sector regarding pay, conditions and pension provision not only leaves many of us stranded at the bus stop on the way to work but also makes us wonder when public sector workers will realise they have never had it so good in comparison with their private sector counterparts.
Private-sector workers cannot use Siptu to vent their anger at how the public sector is taking this country for a ride (although not on a Dublin bus). Private sector workers no longer have a voice and are too busy just getting on with life and work, but we are all forced to listen to the grievances of the public sector through the voice of Siptu.
I am sure I speak for many in the private sector when I say to public sector workers: Put up or shut up; the Irish public sector is now the most protected, mollycoddled and secure workforce in Europe. If you don't like the terms and conditions on offer, the answer is quite simple. Leave and get another job, because the rest of us out here in the real world are fed up listening to the whining and moaning coming from the workforce we pay for. - Yours, etc,
BRENDAN QUINN, Enniscrone, Co Sligo.