By Colin Foster
Members of the civil service union PCS, and local government members of the public services union Unison, are balloting for a strike on 23 March against the Government’s plans to cut their pensions. Their ballot results are due on 9 March, for Unison, and 11 March, for PCS.
The college lecturers’ union NATFHE and the teachers’ union NUT are consulting members about a further strike on 14 April - since 23 March is in the school and college holidays - and some smaller unions are set to join both dates.
Bit by bit, since the 1980s, both the state pension and private sector occupational pensions have been eroded, and now the Government is taking an axe to the last stronghold of decent pension provision, the public sector. The Government proposals vary in detail and in tempo from one part to another of the public sector, but the common thread is raising the retirement age at which workers can qualify for a full pension. Some proposals also reduce pension rates even at the raised retirement age, or increase workers’ contributions.
Local government workers are the first in line. Despite an Early Day Motion protesting against it signed by no fewer than 201 MPs, the Government has tabled measures which will change the scheme from 1 April.
Unison leaders have been saying that they expect the Government to concede a postponement of the changes, and time to negotiate on them. Unfortunately, they have reduced the union’s campaign to little more than that: a demand for delay and negotiation, not a defence of pension provision.
The Government, however, looks less and less likely to concede that postponement. To postpone now would bring them an embarrassing clash, probably on the eve of the General Election, with local councils who have now been told to make their plans for the financial year beginning April 2005 on the basis of the changes.
Only a concerted battle by the public sector unions, mobilising the maximum strength in the maximum unity, will push them back.
The public sector unions also need to reach out to the rest of the working class. Pensions are an issue for everyone! A positive answer to the Government’s plans would include not only defence of existing public sector provision, but also:
- Raising the state pension substantially (to £105, says the National Pensioners’ Convention) and pegging it to average earnings.
- Nationalising the £950 billion held in pension funds, under the democratic control of the workers whose pensions they are supposed to provide.
- Making it compulsory for employers to contribute to pensions - most effectively, in the form of a tax on capital, an obligation to hand over a certain quota of shares each year to publicly-owned pension funds.
Union members also need to make sure that Labour-affiliated unions put pensions on the agenda as a major issue at this year’s Labour Party conference.
