You have. No other employer offers the package which you currently enjoy. Yes you have a point about being shot at, bombed etc. but lets face it you volunteered for just that. Which other company offers a 38/16 year exit point on full pension AND full backdated inflation increase at age 55? As said above try RyanAir or BMI for example, you may just get a shock. 10 out of 10 for trying though
You decide to work for RyanAir or BMI. Lets face it you volunteered. If you dont like it leave. Whilst in the employ of said airlines you dont get shot at, you dont live in the desert (or on a ship) for months at a time away from your families. You dont have to cover for other striking government employees (whilst not being legally allowed to strike yourself) and lose leave as a result. Correct that no other employer offers the package which we currently enjoy (!) - weighting both sides of the package leaves an imbalance which is the focus of this debate.
Although fortunate to be on an accompanied tour at the moment, I do speak from experience. My first tour was 40 months - of those 40 months I spent 30 at sea on exercises and operations around the world. Yes I volunteered for this lifestyle however did not expect to be away that much. I accepted it, it was (and still is) part of the job, however a tax free pay packet whilst away would have greatly increased my morale etc etc.
I believe (though correct me if wrong) that the RFA (thats Royal Fleet Auxillary) get tax free pay after a certain amount of time at sea. Why not the RN? (the role of a sailor in an RFA ship is pretty similiar to that of an RN sailor - and in the exact same location) Why not the Army or RAF if deployed overseas? LSSB or LSSA that are supposed to make up for this fact of service life do not equate to being tax free. So why not bin these allowances for deployed personnel and bring in tax free status - We don't have that many employees that this would seriously add to the defence budget however it would seriously increase the morale and retention of members of the Armed Forces. And if you say that's what the X Factor is also for then frankly the X Factor is not enough and needs to be drastically increased. If Baroness Dean of the AFPRB wants to come and talk to me about it, I would be quite happy to discuss this issue with her. How much do we waste on some aspects of defence spending? Millions!
Bottom line 1: Decide if you want to be major player on the world stage and invest properly in one of those enablers. If not, dont get involved so much.
Bottom line 2: Bin all the glossy magazines/IIP studies/more glossy magazines and spend what you save across the board on increasing the X Factor. Frankly who reads (or who has time to read) even half of the cr@p that gets produced? Why not send it out via email? Most people have email accounts these days. It would save a few trees as well.
Oggin