Introspection.

I've an uncomfortable feeling I'm in danger of being a hypocrite.  I never went on strike while I was a Civil Servant, although one or two were called.   I could never reconcile being a public servant with the idea of deliberately failing to serve the public.  But I always said that if there was one thing which would bring me out on strike, it would be if they started messing around with my pension.  As I saw it, my pay was crap, my job was forever being made more difficult by political interference, my conditions of service were pretty poor and the only thing that made it all sort of worthwhile was that I could look forward to retiring on a good pension.  So how do I now feel about the threat of mass public service strikes over proposed changes to the pension?  The problem is that firstly I am now retired, so there's got to be an element of "pull up the ladder Jack, I'm alright" in my thinking and secondly it's over 15 years now since I retired, and the world has changed.  It is at least arguable that Civil Servants are no longer poorly paid, although I'm sure that political interference is still alive and well.  And then many in the private sector, who had pension arrangements similar to ours, have seen their pension plans torn up and replaced by less generous ones.  So the question is - if I were still working, would I be voting for strike action and prepared to come out?  And the answer is - I simply don't know.  I'm just glad it's a decision I don't have to make.  So am I a hypocrite?