Cyprus-Forum.com

[kurupetos]

Only one way! Reduce spending, get the public servants to contribute towards their pension like all workers. 2.4 billion per year amounts to more than chichen feed. In fact it could become the downnfall of our economy.

I entirely agree! So we must vote for ZYGOS tomorrow.

WTF is Zygos?

[Bananiot]

I do apologise but I got my figures wrong. Let me try again.

The public debt of Greece is 340 billion and ours about 19 billion. In order to cover the deficit we borrow more than 2 billion every year and this is added to the lump sum we borrowed the previous year and so forth. The situation is very grim and serious people in Cyprus, like Orphanides, are very worried about this. Even the Minister of Finance has called the present pension situation a "time bomb". The pensions cost half a billion per year without the pensioners contributing one cent towards the pension fund. This is madness.

The government has asked for more taxes from the people and the banks. Rumour has it that the government is going to propose we pay more towards the so called "defense cut" which of course will sound like sweet music to the ears of the nationalists but the extra money that will go into the government coffers will not be wasted away on the NG but it will be silently used to cover the holes of the doomed pension scheme and perhaps hoping the government can last out until the next government takes over, which then can shoulder the blame. The fact is, successive governments over the last 30 or so years have really f*cked up the economy.

[kurupetos]

Why not lower the salaries of those lazy public servants, MPs, ministers and of course the president?

[Bananiot]

Lowering the salaries is sound economic action and a must, if we are to avoid the worse. It will also increase our credibility abroad. But, the biggest scandal is when the government contributes everything towards the pension fund of public servants and the employees give zero! At the same time, they are sent home at 60 (teachers) and 63 (the rest) and they enjoy huge monthly pensions on top of the f' apax (which is a one off payment at retiring that amounts to really a lot of money). Not to mention the fact that the government machinery is huge, probably we have the most public servants in relation to our size, worldwise.

Answers are easy, nobody denies this. But, who will shoulder the political cost? This is where patriotism is needed, I think. Those that care for this country ought to tackle this issue. But, do we have anyone that will put the country's interest above party politics? Tomorrow we have elections. Did anyone dare to touch this subject? Of course not!

[Pyrpolizer]

Lowering the salaries is sound economic action and a must, if we are to avoid the worse. It will also increase our credibility abroad. But, the biggest scandal is when the government contributes everything towards the pension fund of public servants and the employees give zero! At the same time, they are sent home at 60 (teachers) and 63 (the rest) and they enjoy huge monthly pensions on top of the f' apax (which is a one off payment at retiring that amounts to really a lot of money). Not to mention the fact that the government machinery is huge, probably we have the most public servants in relation to our size, worldwise.

Answers are easy, nobody denies this. But, who will shoulder the political cost? This is where patriotism is needed, I think. Those that care for this country ought to tackle this issue. But, do we have anyone that will put the country's interest above party politics? Tomorrow we have elections. Did anyone dare to touch this subject? Of course not!

Bravo Bananiot! This coming from a school teacher like you shows a man with ethics.


I heard in Greece School teachers start with 850 Euros a month and may get say 1000 after 9 years. Here they get 1800 FIRST SALARY. Whereas the average salary in the private sector for a University graduate is only 1100...

Unfortunately it is not easy to touch the salaries of the public employees. They may paralyze the state the education system EVERYTHING.... What can I say.

regarding the pension fund I think the public servants pay 3% and the government (using money of her own people) pays the remaining 10% for them.
A self employed person pays 13% ALL OF THEM coming out of his own pocket!!
An employee in the private sector pays 6.5% and his boss another 6.5%.

Who ever gave the right to the Government to treat her own employees favorably on the expense of the tax payers I don't know.

Someone should go to the ECHR for this injustice!!

[Bananiot]

Pyrpolyser, this constitutes a scandal, there is no doubt about it. My question is, why doesn't AKEL do something about it since this is supposed to be the party that cares for the interests of the working class? I agree, the public sector will blow their top if its members lose even a penny of what they consider "kektimeno". But, we are heading for bankruptcy and someone has to stand above petty politics.

I am not sure about the fine details you quoted for the contribution of the various parties to the pension fund but I take your word for it.

[humanist]

I have to say that i struggle when I hear of the inequalities between public and private sector employees in Cyprus. Particularly when it comes to public holidays. I am not sure why such discrimination as to allow some people to have a holiday on a specific day and not afford the luxury to all.

[Viewpoint]

So not as rosy as you GCs want to make out.

[Pyrpolizer]

Pyrpolyser, this constitutes a scandal, there is no doubt about it. My question is, why doesn't AKEL do something about it since this is supposed to be the party that cares for the interests of the working class? I agree, the public sector will blow their top if its members lose even a penny of what they consider "kektimeno". But, we are heading for bankruptcy and someone has to stand above petty politics.

I am not sure about the fine details you quoted for the contribution of the various parties to the pension fund but I take your word for it.

Because my friend they got stuck in the past and they don't know who is really a "working class" today! For them everybody who takes a salary is a working class!!.

In this respect the Government employees (100 thousand and more) getting almost double salaries than the rest are considered working class.

Similarly the employees of the broader public sector, Cyta, EAC, Cyprus Airways, Municipalities etc etc are all working class.

The Bank employes getting equally high salaries (because of the monopoly and the legal of cheating the public) are also working class.

The young generation however who get a job with 800-1000 Euros per month who get fired every 3-4 months, who don't even get paid regularly at the end of the month but after 3-4 weeks are also working class

Therefore AKEL as the protector of the working classes understands and accepts that one "working class" has to be working to feed unfairly the other "working class". This is where we are today... The pigs farm got sophisticated. Today we have PIGS, pigs, and animals.

[erolz3]

Not to mention the fact that the government machinery is huge, probably we have the most public servants in relation to our size, worldwise.

Er I think you are probably second in the world, though we only have psudeo public servants, so maybe that does not count. Unifed we could definately 'beat the world'.