and those final salary pensions have been used as the justification for years of below inflation pay rises and salaries below market rates
That was indeed the case but civil service salaries are now comparable, if not better than private sector salaries.
Index linked final salary pensions for civil servants is a nice benefit, the fact that they are funded from current tax receipts with no investment to cover the current or future costs is an utter disgrace.
Gordon Brown has such a pension. He has systematically screwed the UK Pension funds and companies' ability to sustain FSS pensions.