Thursday, 10 March 2011

Unions together against pensions robbery

Civil servants, teachers, university lecturers, and others have been told that from next year they will have a bigger chunk of their salary deducted from their wages to go in their pension fund.

But this is a con.

The civil service pension schemes were renegotiated in 2005 and are sustainable.

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 paying off the deficit rather than investing for jobs and growth.

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.

It is believed that pensions contributions will increase by at least an additional 3% of salary – with details to be discussed at union negotiations.

The government has set pre-conditions on negotiations saying that pension contributions by public sector workers will increase whatever happens during planned talks.

In response, PCS and other unions will talk to ministers, but plan for co-ordinated ballots on industrial action if the government presses ahead with attacks on public sector pensions.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka met with other leaders at the Trades Union Congress in London to discuss the best way of resisting the changes.

The university lecturers union has already named dates for strike action over pensions

Other teachers’ unions are considering holding ballots.

The PCS national executive committee is monitoring the situation closely and will meet in late March to decide if the time is right to ballot for action.

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