Pensions Offer - What
the Unions Say
Andy Lord, Branch Secretary
 Dear
Colleagues
Further
to my recent emails to your work addresses please find below a
summary of the position of other Public Sector unions in respect of
the various Public Sector pension schemes. This clarifies clearly
that contrary to much Government spin PCS is not isolated and almost
all other unions have to a greater or lesser extent made it clear
they are not yet signing up to any agreement with the Government due
to failures to move on the central issues of the intention to make
public servants pay more, work longer and receive a lesser Pension
together with a lack of much clear details in a number of critical
areas.
Due
to the fact that industrial action has been taken around this
subject and that the statement below is a clear refutation of the
political assertion by the Government that an agreement has been
reached this email is being sent to your home address to avid any
possible contravention of H|MRC guidance on using HMRC facilities to
promote industrial action.
If
there are any further updates over the holiday period I will
endeavour to keep you informed but in the meantime can I take the
opportunity once again to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New
Year
Andy
Lord
Branch
Secretary
PCS
South East Essex
PCS
has reiterated its commitment to negotiating - but ministers have
refused to talk about the three core issues.
These
are forcing public servants to pay hundreds of pounds more each year
in pensions contributions; to work for up to eight years longer and
to receive much less in retirement - in many cases, tens of
thousands of pounds less
It’s
not true - as some commentators have implied - that all the other
unions involved have signed up to the government’s proposal.
Civil
service pension scheme
PCS
has talked of more strikes if the core issues are not resolved.
NIPSA
- the biggest public sector union in Northern Ireland - says it
"will be working with our colleagues in PCS to determine if
further action in respect of civil service pensions is
possible."
Read
the NIPSA statement
Prospect,
which also represents civil servants, says on its website:
”Prospect has agreed to enter a further round of talks on the
government's plans to change the civil service pension scheme.
“But while it has suspended industrial action for the duration of
the talks, it has reserved the right to take further action if the
talks break down.”
Read
the Prospect statement
The
FDA union, which represents senior civil servants and tax
collectors, said: “The FDA has not at this stage agreed to a new
scheme, only that the negotiations have reached a point where the
key elements will be put to our executive committee at a later date,
following further negotiations on a number of outstanding issues.
“No
agreement will be concluded until all members have had their say in
a ballot.”
Read
the FDA statement
The
Prison Officers' Association has told the government "that the
POA would not endorse the 'heads of agreement' as outlined in their
formal offer until there has been a suitable conclusion to our
negotiations on the normal pension age."
Read
the POA statement
(UPDATE
- Wednesday 21 December) The Union News website is reporting that
Unite has said it was "bounced" into signing the civil
service pension scheme agreement and suspended talks with the
government.
Read
the full story
|
Teachers'
pension scheme
Christine
Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said:
“Following lengthy discussions the NUT was not able to sign up to
the government’s headline proposals.
“There
was insufficient progress in terms of the government’s position that
teachers should work longer, pay more and get less.
"In
the NUT we reserved our position due to lack of progress but also the
lack of documentation in certain critical areas.”
Read
the NUT statement
The
NASUWT teaching union says on it s website: “The NASUWT has not
signed the Department for Education heads of agreement document and
has reserved its position, insisting on further information from the
government.”
In
a detailed statement general secretary Chris Keates says the
government still wants teachers “to pay more, receive less and work
longer for their pensions.”
Chris
goes on: “Teachers would expect their negotiators to insist on a
detailed examination of the implications of the DfE’s proposals and
to exercise due diligence. In the timescale imposed by the government,
this simply was not possible.”
Read
the full NASUWT statement
UCAC
- a Welsh teachers union - decided not to sign an agreement with the
government. General Secretary Elaine Edwards said: “The talks have
been constructive; but the latest proposals still don’t fully
address the principal concerns of UCAC’s members. We cannot agree to
this proposal without further discussion."
Dim
cytundeb ar bensiynau athrawon
Read
the UCAC statement in English
Sally
Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, said:
"Following extensive talks with government officials UCU,
together with the NUT, UCAC, and NASUWT, has decided to reserve its
position on the proposed agreement."
Read
the full UCU statement
Local
government pension scheme
On
Tuesday 20 December Unison, GMB, and Unite - the UK's three biggest
unions - suspended the agreement they had made with the government
over the local government pension scheme.
On
Wednesday 21 December Unison and the GMB said talks were "back on
track".
Read
statement on Unison website
The
Union News website reported that Unite had suspended talks until
January.
Read
the Union News report
Health
service pension scheme
In
the health talks the workers' representatives signed up to the
“heads of agreement” but expressed concerns saying: “The staff
side are clear that there are important issues still to be resolved
and that the final decision on agreeing or otherwise will be taken by
each union in line with their own democratic processes."
The
statement was issued on behalf of the British Association of
Occupational Therapists, British Dental Association, British Dietetics
Association, British Medical Association, British and Irish Orthoptic
Society, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Federation of Clinical
Scientists, GMB, Hospital Consultants and Specialist Association,
Managers in Partnership, Royal College of Midwives, Royal College of
Nursing, Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, Society of
Radiographers, and Unison.
The
POA is not part of the negotiating body but represents workers in
secure psychiatric hospitals. The union said: "Our members at
Ashworth, Broadmoor, Carstairs and Rampton will be consulted to
determine what is acceptable to them."
Read
the POA statement
|