I HAVE viewed the recent coverage of the public sector workers’ strike with interest. A ‘1 per cent increase is not worth a can of beans’, one slogan said.

I have considered long and hard before sharing my thoughts here.

In 2007 this private sector worker earned a salary of £32,000. Not a king’s ransom, but reflective of a career that spanned thirty years, which started with six years of relevant study and led to fifteen years of contribution to constant company growth.

That year, with austerity on the horizon, my salary was frozen, just as it was twelve months later.

In 2009 I was made redundant and gratefully accepted a job on £30,000.

That company fell victim to the recession and I found myself agreeing to lower and lower financial recompense as I chased a career in an industry that was continually contracting, accepting shorter and shorter term deals.

First came £28,000, then £23,000. A spell back at £26,000 led me to my current role, which commenced over two years ago at £18,000.

Even after training as an industry tutor (at my company’s request, and a strange acknowledgement of the worth of my experience to an industry which does not appear to value it monetarily) my salary has increased at just £400 a year since 2012.

Seven years after, what I now have to consider, peaking I continue to receive just 60 per cent of the salary I earned in 2007.

Be careful what you wish for public service workers. You might be more cocooned from the outside world than you want to think.

Name and address supplied