Pensions: Striking is the only option
11:09am Saturday 15th October 2011 in Comment
OVER the next few weeks, Unison and over a dozen other trade unions will be balloting members on industrial action, commencing with a possible one- day strike on November 30. Unison is sending out over a million ballot papers to members in the NHS, local councils, education, police, ambulance, fire and other services.
Strike action is very much a last resort, but after eight months of negotiations going nowhere there is not much prospect of any progress being made. Contrary to some of the myths about public service pensions, they are in good shape and in many ways an economic success story. The Local Government Pension Scheme currently has £150 billion in assets, much of it invested in the UK, supporting jobs and the British economy. Government changes to the Local Government Pensions and other public pension schemes won’t benefit pensions, but divert huge sums of money away from pensions straight to the Treasury to pay off the deficit.
The Government tries to play off public sector workers against the private sector, yet everyone needs a decent pension. We should not let the Government try to turn the clock back to the days before the welfare state. Public service workers have seen cuts to jobs, services and now pensions. We need a massive “yes” vote to send a clear message that enough is enough. M Challender Bolton
