UNISON Scotland has welcomed Lord Hutton’s warning to ministers that punitive pension reforms will force people out of public service pensions.
His concerns echo those of UNISON, Scotland’s largest union in public services, who claim proposed contribution increases of 50 per cent are not only unfair but completely unaffordable and will leave members with no option but to leave pension schemes. Mass opt-out will also see more cuts in public services, as employers will face increased national insurance contributions for each worker not in the pension scheme.
Recent surveys have already shown that more than 50 per cent of staff will opt-out of pension provision if contributions are increased much above current levels.
Dave Watson, UNISON’s Scottish Organiser, said: “We share Lord Hutton’s concerns and know that many of our members, particularly low-paid women workers, would have no choice but to opt-out of pension schemes if contributions are increased. These increases would not only place a further burden on our members during a period of pay restraint and rising living costs, but mass-opt out of schemes would place increased pressure on welfare benefits, leaving the government with longer term costs.
“Public service workers should not be left to pay the price for bailing out the bankers and the UK and Scottish Governments must heed Lord Hutton’s warning and work with trade unions to examine all available options.”
For more information on Scottish public sector pensions see UNISON’s briefing at www.unison-scotland.org.uk/briefings/MSPBriefing_Pensions_June2011.pdf.
UNISON. Scotland's biggest and liveliest trade union, representing members delivering public and related services.
Showing posts with label Hutton report. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hutton report. Show all posts
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Thursday, 10 March 2011
UK Government will use Hutton report to raid public sector pensions
UNISON chief, Dave Prentis, is warning that the UK Government will use today’s Hutton report as a Trojan horse to raid the pensions of millions of public sector workers. The union is sending out a message to its 1.4m members
warning that industrial action is now one step closer.
Dave Prentis, said:
“Whatever the Hutton report may say about fairness, the Government will use
it as a Trojan horse to raid the pensions of hard working public sector
workers. Pensions that our members have paid into year in year out and
which are fair and affordable.
“In fact, even before the report today, the Government announced they were
increasing employee contributions by 50%.
“There is a lot of nonsense talked about public sector pensions – they are
not gold plated. The average is very low - in local government, the average
is just over £4,000, falling to £2,800 for women.
“Asking workers to work longer for less is simply not an option. We want to
talk to the Government about their response as a matter of urgency. But I
am sending out a clear message to our 1.4 million members warning them that
industrial action is now one big step closer."
There is a lot of misinformation about public sector pension schemes. The
facts are:
* The local government and NHS pension schemes were renegotiated in 2006
to make them sustainable and affordable.
* Both schemes are cash rich – more is going in than coming out.
* Last year, the NHS scheme received £2billion more in contributions than it
paid out and this money went straight to the Treasury.
* The average pension in public service pension schemes is very low, for
example in local government, the average is just over £4,000, falling to
£2,800 for women.
* If these people didn’t save for their retirement, they would have to rely
on *means-tested benefits paid for by the taxpayer.
* Pensioners are already being hit with the move from RPI to CPI to
calculate annual inflation increases - this will reduce their value by 15%.
* When the NHS scheme was renegotiated, protection was built in for current
members to retain their retirement age of 60. New members have a retirement
age of 65. If that agreement is broken, industrial action could follow.
* Government cuts to local government employers grants mean that the
shortfall in pension contributions has to be made up by employees. They may
have to pay between 50% and 100% more for a reduced pension. This is
effectively a tax on low paid workers.
* Studies have shown that if the contributions rise too much, workers will
desert the local government scheme and it could collapse.
* The local government scheme invests more than £100billion in the UK
economy. If the scheme collapsed, it would have a devastating impact on the
economy.
warning that industrial action is now one step closer.
Dave Prentis, said:
“Whatever the Hutton report may say about fairness, the Government will use
it as a Trojan horse to raid the pensions of hard working public sector
workers. Pensions that our members have paid into year in year out and
which are fair and affordable.
“In fact, even before the report today, the Government announced they were
increasing employee contributions by 50%.
“There is a lot of nonsense talked about public sector pensions – they are
not gold plated. The average is very low - in local government, the average
is just over £4,000, falling to £2,800 for women.
“Asking workers to work longer for less is simply not an option. We want to
talk to the Government about their response as a matter of urgency. But I
am sending out a clear message to our 1.4 million members warning them that
industrial action is now one big step closer."
There is a lot of misinformation about public sector pension schemes. The
facts are:
* The local government and NHS pension schemes were renegotiated in 2006
to make them sustainable and affordable.
* Both schemes are cash rich – more is going in than coming out.
* Last year, the NHS scheme received £2billion more in contributions than it
paid out and this money went straight to the Treasury.
* The average pension in public service pension schemes is very low, for
example in local government, the average is just over £4,000, falling to
£2,800 for women.
* If these people didn’t save for their retirement, they would have to rely
on *means-tested benefits paid for by the taxpayer.
* Pensioners are already being hit with the move from RPI to CPI to
calculate annual inflation increases - this will reduce their value by 15%.
* When the NHS scheme was renegotiated, protection was built in for current
members to retain their retirement age of 60. New members have a retirement
age of 65. If that agreement is broken, industrial action could follow.
* Government cuts to local government employers grants mean that the
shortfall in pension contributions has to be made up by employees. They may
have to pay between 50% and 100% more for a reduced pension. This is
effectively a tax on low paid workers.
* Studies have shown that if the contributions rise too much, workers will
desert the local government scheme and it could collapse.
* The local government scheme invests more than £100billion in the UK
economy. If the scheme collapsed, it would have a devastating impact on the
economy.
Hutton pensions report brings industrial action closer
UNISON, the UK’s largest union today warned that the Hutton report will bring the threat of industrial action closer, as the union’s members reel from pay freezes and job cuts.
Once again, the UK Government is expecting public sector workers to pay the price of the excesses of the bankers who caused the deficit, said the union’s general secretary Dave Prentis.
And he called on the Government to enter into urgent, meaningful talks on the substance of the Hutton report, rather than rushing to make cuts.
Dave Prentis said:
“This will be just one more attack on innocent public sector workers who are being expected to pay the price of the deficit, while the bankers who caused it continue to enjoy bumper pay and bonuses.
“On top of a pay freeze, and the threat of redundancy, they now face a pensions raid. This brings the threat of industrial action closer.
“One million of our members are in these pension schemes and I urge the Government to enter into urgent, meaningful talks on the report, rather than rushing to make cuts.
“Workers are already losing out as a result of the Government pre-empting the report, raiding the pension schemes and increasing contributions by 50%.”
There is a lot of misinformation about public sector pension schemes. The facts are:
• The local government and NHS pension schemes were renegotiated in 2006 to make them sustainable and affordable.
• Both schemes are cash rich – more is going in than coming out.
• Last year, the NHS scheme received £2billion more in contributions than it paid out and this money went straight to the Treasury.
• The average pension in public service pension schemes is very low, for example in local government, the average is just over £4,000, falling to £2,800 for women.
• If these people didn’t save for their retirement, they would have to rely on *means-tested benefits paid for by the taxpayer.
• Pensioners are already being hit with the move from RPI to CPI to calculate annual inflation increases - this will reduce their value by 15%.
• When the NHS scheme was renegotiated, protection was built in for current members to retain their retirement age of 60. New members have a retirement age of 65. If that agreement is broken, industrial action could follow.
• Government cuts to local government employers grants mean that the shortfall in pension contributions has to be made up by employees. They may have to pay between 50% and 100% more for the same pension. This is effectively a tax on low paid workers.
• Studies have shown that if the contributions rise too much, workers will desert the scheme and it could collapse.
• The local government scheme invests more than £100billion in the UK economy. If the scheme collapsed, it would have a devastating impact on the economy.
Once again, the UK Government is expecting public sector workers to pay the price of the excesses of the bankers who caused the deficit, said the union’s general secretary Dave Prentis.
And he called on the Government to enter into urgent, meaningful talks on the substance of the Hutton report, rather than rushing to make cuts.
Dave Prentis said:
“This will be just one more attack on innocent public sector workers who are being expected to pay the price of the deficit, while the bankers who caused it continue to enjoy bumper pay and bonuses.
“On top of a pay freeze, and the threat of redundancy, they now face a pensions raid. This brings the threat of industrial action closer.
“One million of our members are in these pension schemes and I urge the Government to enter into urgent, meaningful talks on the report, rather than rushing to make cuts.
“Workers are already losing out as a result of the Government pre-empting the report, raiding the pension schemes and increasing contributions by 50%.”
There is a lot of misinformation about public sector pension schemes. The facts are:
• The local government and NHS pension schemes were renegotiated in 2006 to make them sustainable and affordable.
• Both schemes are cash rich – more is going in than coming out.
• Last year, the NHS scheme received £2billion more in contributions than it paid out and this money went straight to the Treasury.
• The average pension in public service pension schemes is very low, for example in local government, the average is just over £4,000, falling to £2,800 for women.
• If these people didn’t save for their retirement, they would have to rely on *means-tested benefits paid for by the taxpayer.
• Pensioners are already being hit with the move from RPI to CPI to calculate annual inflation increases - this will reduce their value by 15%.
• When the NHS scheme was renegotiated, protection was built in for current members to retain their retirement age of 60. New members have a retirement age of 65. If that agreement is broken, industrial action could follow.
• Government cuts to local government employers grants mean that the shortfall in pension contributions has to be made up by employees. They may have to pay between 50% and 100% more for the same pension. This is effectively a tax on low paid workers.
• Studies have shown that if the contributions rise too much, workers will desert the scheme and it could collapse.
• The local government scheme invests more than £100billion in the UK economy. If the scheme collapsed, it would have a devastating impact on the economy.
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