I have listened to argument and counter argument on television and radio for the past three days - each side desperate to tell their story and say how unfair life is. Well, what a surprise! - life is not fair and the tooth fairy does not exist. 

I have never in my lifetime understood why Unions recommend it or why workers are gullible enough to think they achieve anything through strikes. Strikes generally signal the demise and slow death of an industry unwilling to change with the times.

Public sector workers cry that promises were made and their pensions must be protected. I even heard that money does exist to allow no changes in their working conditions. I wonder where these people were when the tragedy of Greece unfolded. Greece has vast numbers of the population employed by the government - all on pensions that cannot be paid. The country is virtually bankrupt and may bring down the Euro Zone.

If anyone thinks we can sustain present employment levels and benefits and working conditions in our Public Sector they do not live in the same country that I do. Many of the population work in the private sector. We have all faced pay freezes, pensions disappearing overnight, longer working life and, in the worse cases, redundancy. These are the facts of 2011. We all have to learn to live with less and look for happiness and contentment in the world around us not in the shopping centre every Saturday.

I am not political on this issue but it seems that Politicians of all persuasions try very hard to blame everyone else. The Public Sector, just like the Bankers and the Directors of large conglomerates, need to understand what they are doing is unsustainable and yes, very unfair.

It seems clear to me that we all have to work longer and most of us will not have a pension other than from the State. If the next generations are ever to have jobs and some form of support in their old age we have to stop being selfish now. By keeping the status quo which is unsustainable we sentence our children to a future that is unimaginable.

It is not time to blame others it is time to 'Man Up' and face the facts. The Public Sector all over Europe is now learning that any Government is just like a business. It cannot live beyond its means. Every European economy is now faced with pensions it cannot pay. The private sector has had to live with commercial reality since time began.

As for the 'Lucky' -  one nugget I heard on the radio yesterday was that there were some senior civil servants on strike who earn in excess of £100k per year who have never paid a penny in contribution to their own pensions which will be in excess of £60K per year when they retire at 60 years of age. Well, I for one made the wrong career choice!