This afternoon.
ESB Head Office, Dublin.
Members of the ESB Retired Staff Association (ESBRSA) protest protesting against a ten-year pension freeze.
Last August, the ESB Retired Staff Association submitted a claim for a 7.7 per cent pension increase, which was rejected.
The National Executive Chairman of the Association is calling for the traditional linking of pensions and employee salaries to be restored.
Tony Collins says pensioners are under represented on committees connected to ESB Defined Benefit Pension Scheme:
The protest involves all 15 Branches of the organisation.
ESB Pensioner Protest Over Decade-Long Pension Freeze (KFM)
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If people actually saw one of their monthly pension slips there would be riots. The amount typically starts with a 4 or 5.
well €40 or €50 is not much really.
Yes, they’re some of the lucky few with Defined Benefit gold-plated pensions. No-one under 40 (or even 50, maybe), outside of the Public Sector, is likely to ever see one of these.
Just so you know, my public sector pension is paid for by me. Its such a great deal when I wanted to leave the scheme I was told its cant be done. Most Public Sector pay into the pension scheme just to pay the Top tires pensions. Because I can tell you now, I’d give up mine tomorrow if they let me stop paying in.
Be grateful for what you’ve got. My private sector pension is paid for by me. However, as a Defined Contributions pension, it’s not guaranteed, unlike yours. I paid thousands into it last year and the fund ended up MUCH smaller this year than last. At present, it estimates I’ll get about 11% of my present salary, assuming an annual pay rise of “6%”, which is laughable. I haven’t had a pay rise in 7 or 8 years, and am unlikely to get one in the future either.
If you were to try to pay into a private pension that had the same benefits as your PS pension, it would cost many multiples of what you currently pay.
So no, your pension is not paid for by you; only a small fraction of it is.
I’d gladly leave it tomorrow if I was allowed.
Your dead right. I would too. Cancer runs in my family , id rather have the extra money now to spend or invest myself. A pension is no good to me if I die before I retire , and with the retirement age going up and up its more and more likely . I’m healthy now, and I don t mean to be negative but I have to be realistic. I’ve always had the feeling id kick it at 66 years of age. If I take unpaid leave for a few weeks like I do from time to time or if I took a career break, my “contributions” are short, and apparently I have to contact HR to pony up the shortfall otherwise it could effect my final pension amount. Whatever,!! dock me, I don’t care. A: ill be dead before retirement from any one of the 259 forms of cancer out there or B: the pension fund will be stolen somehow in the next 30 years due to some inevitable financial calamity . I want my full wages today. I don’t want a penny going to multiple property owning mortgage free rich fart landlords. (I hate baby boomers incase you didn’t notice)
oof. difficult.
if you are to believe in the flawed concept of a pension in the first place then you’d have to support them…but I don’t and so I find it hard to have much sympathy for those gold plated lads (that’s probably plain old begrudgery on my part, so be it) they certainly cracked the whip back in the late 70’s and got themselves very very well sorted.
great place to work, was famously difficult to get a job in there, yet another family dynasty scenario like Leinster House, working for the core ESB proper is the stuff of legend just do what you’re told and its gravy for life
LOL
That is all.
You know there are some PS retirees that get paid more thru their pension since retirement than they got in their monthly salary , great if it can be afforded but Ive started to wonder in the Semi State sector, if the high cost of ESB bills for customers is somehow related to high salaries and pensions…
I’m sure you have some sort of source to back that up or is it just the usual public sector bashing?
My grandad worked for ESB, my gran’s in receipt of his posthumous pension. I can vouch that it’s a very healthy number. The lads are marching out of greed, not need.
And they are entitled to it. That simple.
“Entitled”. Sigh
Yes. What’s the problem.
I am a landlord of a few apartments. I’m entitled to charge €2200 per month in rent for a two bedroom apartment. Doesn’t make it right though. As someone said, marching out of greed rather than need.
The difference is those workers entered a work place and the contract they signed Entitled them to xyz for the use of their labour. Just because the ESB gave out stupid contracts that now can’t be afforded is not the pensioners fault. They signed a contract it should be honoured. If your tenants sign a contract you would expect it to be honoured.
I get your point.
I don’t think it’s right though. My contract entitles me to raise the rent by 4% every year. The tenants signed it so…
Can you outline the terms of that contractual obligation? Because they’re not taking ESB to court, they’re just having a march. They’re not demanding that their legally mandated rights be observed, because their rights are being observed. They’re demanding that a tradition, not a legal right, be reinstated which saw their pensions index with ESB salaries.
Greedy gravy, baby!
I’m one of those “Gold plated Pensioners”, I put in 42 years of service. When I was 20 years old I was told that as condition of employment I MUST join the Superannuation Scheme. I’ve contributed for 40 years and part of the agreement was that on retirement I would receive a pension linked to current staff increases. In 2010 the ESB & Unions extinguished this link. Then the Government raided the kitty to the tune of €80- 90million. They then introduced the pension levy. ESB Pensions have decided that this will continue for the life of a pensioner. The only increase awarded in 10 years was in late 2018, it amounted to 0.02%
It was a good pension scheme, but remember we paid dearly for it over those years.
“a pension linked to current staff increases” Are you fupping serious? You’re not working but want increases the same as people who are working and paying taxes to support you? Taking the pizz. Off you to to ESB Fitzwilliam for the free dinner in your new SUV.
Joe – did you get a cut in your pension in 20008/9 like all the ESB working staff (and all public and civil servants) got in their wages?
Oh look it’s the extreme Far Right nationalist movement that embodies xenophobia, islamaphobia, homophobia, sexism, transphobia, misogyny and general hate…in their yellow vests – get them!!!
Maybe they are getting more than the average (good for them) but they are getting less than they were promised so they have a right to take it to the man.The privilege/victim culture pits us all against each other in a way that we do the bidding of the status quo.
Unless you are an establishment hack (i.e. everything that opposes you is “extreme” politically), this movement should be seen for what it is – the yellow vest movement is a non-politically motivated movement for the squeezed middle who have been nothing but compliant and have not been represented.
That’s the thing though, they are not The squeezed middle. They are just greedy
FFS. ESB pensioners? Spoiled.. Disgusting. These old geezers get everything for nothing from the government while young people get screwed.