SO the public service unions are up in arms because their privileged pension scheme is to be brought into line with those of us in manufacturing (February 19).

These are the manufacturing companies where wealth and money is first created to allow everybody else to shuffle it around and make great profits.

Whether a director, manager, assembly worker, secretary or engineer (such as myself), we all have no choice but to retire at 65. Lots of factory jobs involve hard manual labour - as do some public service jobs admittedly - but why, when everybody pays taxes to support public service schemes, should they retire five years earlier?

Needless to say I will not be supporting or offering any sympathy to their proposed action.

Keith Whitfield,

School Lane,

Bishopthorpe, York.

Updated: 10:14 Monday, February 21, 2005