It hurts my pocket to say it, but we can't afford public sector pay bill
Not a popular post by any means, but the simple fact is that if you accept the need for fiscal consolidation at the pace mandated by the Troika, you have to look at pay as well as productivity and performance. Let's spend some time talking about what pay cuts would look like, and what they would mean for the overall economy. They would lead, inexorably, to increased unemployment and underemployment as demand sags further. This is the austerity doom loop we're on.