Pensions Robbery

Public sector workers are facing a pensions tax as the government tells them to pay more for less.

Hundreds of thousands of workers are facing a doubling of their pension contributions which will go straight into the coffers of the Treasury to pay off the debts caused by greedy bankers.

The government is proposing that, from next year, the pension contributions of civil servants, teachers, university lecturers, and others will increase by an average of 3%.

But this is a con. The civil service pension schemes were renegotiated in 2005 and are sustainable, in fact the costs are falling.

So the extra contributions from workers themselves are not necessary and will go straight to the Treasury, not the pension schemes, where the government is obsessed with reducing the deficit rather than investing for jobs and growth.

And while reckless fat cat bankers who caused the recession walk away with big bonuses, public sector workers will have to pay many thousands of pounds more for pensions which will be smaller because of a change in the way they are calculated.

That’s why unions are considering joint action against these plans.

There is an alternative

• Every year £120 billion of tax is avoided, evaded,or uncollected
• Instead of cutting jobs the Revenue and Customs should employ more tax compliance officers – each one collects £658,000 annually
• The government should invest in job creation in socially useful areas like housing to create economic growth
• Read the union’s financial proposals
• More on our tax justice campaign