A good comment from someone here, reminding the Mail readers that they have a rather selective definition of public sector workers at times:
Quote:
Good old Daily *ail, stirring up things again. A few FACTS. I was a printer before I became a fireman, private firm and all that, 37.5 hour week, 08.15-16.30, Monday to Friday. No nights or weekends, Christmas and every bank holiday off, overtime if I wanted it, non-contributory pension, sick pay and as much tea as I could drink. I took a PAY CUT to join the fire service, and in 18 years I have been burnt, been in a flashover that nearly killed me, gone through a floor, had a roof come down on me, had a child die in my arms after a failed resuscitation attempt, and many other visions that I can never forget, no matter how hard I try, and attended a colleagues funeral who was killed at a fire. I wouldn't change a thing though, apart from maybe the bad memories, and I wish my colleague was still alive. Don't tar all public-sector workers with the same brush.
- Fireman, Bristol, 15/9/2010 17:49
The Wail is
really on the offensive against the public sector at the moment, with the TUC conference on. To a lot of their journalists and readers, it is convenient to paint the public sector as being a load of unnecessary and under-worked office staff on extortionate pay grades who either spend their days at home sick on full pay or on jolly "team-building" exercises at Alton Towers.