In defence of PS workers, the pay cuts in the private sector are also on gross pay and so are also a lot less after tax.
My wifes a public sector worker as are some friends of mine. The big gripe they have over the pension levy is that it does not go into a ring fenced scheme. When you add the pension levy to the pension contributions that they already pay and take into their Class A PRSI contributions (they only get 1 pension - 50% of salary inclusive of SW contrib. pension), they are paying way over the odds for their pensions - more than the typical employee in most medium to large companies in Ireland. Certainly my wife is paying a much higher rate of contribution that I have in private sector jobs I've done and is getting a lower pension at the end. A lot of public sector workers will now pay much more in contributions in pure cash terms than their pensions will ever be worth. My wife is paying close to 20% out of her own pocket, not counting her employers PRSI contributions which are supposed to go towards the SW pension.
The other anxiety that public sector workers have is that they do not believe that their pensions will be there by the time they reach retirement. They are bottom of the priority list for the Government when it comes to paying bills and are being gradually eroded over the years. Most younger public sector workers believe that by the time they retire, they'll be getting little more than whatever the SW pension is at that time. They just dont trust the Government with their contributions and are uncomfortable with the fact that they are being spent as current expenditure rather than being put in a pension fund.
The solution to all this is to put all public sector workers on a defined contribution scheme. At the rate of contributions most make, they would be a lot better off. I am aware that many of my PS friends are scared of DC pensions because they are unfamiliar with them and they read all the horror stories in the press. But, even if the stock markets tanked a few times during a public servants 40 year career, I honestly believe that they would still have much higher pensions on the same contributions than staying in the government scheme. I've advised my wife that if at some stage in the future, public servants are offered a DC scheme, she should sign up.