Indeed ...how many full time workers do we have on the board 
Wrong question. It should be:
How many public service workers do we have on the board?
Anyway, all they are doing is trying to protect their pensions. I cannot fault that but the simple fact is that those pensions aren't sustainable.
Many years ago, like everyone in the company, I was on a final salary scheme with retirement at 58 on the average of the last final three years salary. Great, but it became clear to the trustees that the company could no longer afford it. Although I wasn't a trustee I was aware of the costings. So we went over to a money purchase scheme. Lumpsums were transferred, the company provided free financial advisers and we looked after our own pension provision. If we hadn't the company probably couldn't have continued. There just wouldn't have been enough income to maintain those who would/had retired.
Same goes for the public sector, except that there is a misplaced belief that the income (from taxes) would always fill the gap. It's no longer true. The public sector has grown and, although many will deny this, their salaries have risen faster than the private sector. It's hard to face reality, especially if you've been protected from market forces during your employment.
So, there will be big strikes, people will notice and will be inconvenienced but ultimately reforms will take place and people will realise that to get a reasonable pension they will have to make a proper provision.
