Strike over pensions robbery

[Derek McMillan]

Steve Sinnott, NUT General Secretary, said:

“The Government is not listening to teachers and other public service workers about the injustice of its proposals. I want members to support the strongest possible option - a one-day strike.

NUT seeks members’ views on action over pensions

Members of Britain’s biggest teachers’ union, the NUT, are to be consulted on the methods they want to use to fight Government plans to worsen public sector pension entitlements.

Members in schools throughout England and Wales will be asked whether they want a one day strike, action short of a strike, or if they would prefer non-industrial action such as rallies and leafleting.

Survey forms will be dispatched to members on February 14 for return to the Electoral Reform Balloting Services by 28 February. Balloting on possible industrial action - including a strike option - could begin on 21 March.

Mary Compton, NUT President, and Steve Sinnott, NUT General Secretary, will 1400 hours today deliver 60,000 postcards to the Department for Education and Skills from Union members protesting at government plans to worsen their pension arrangements.

The Government proposes to raise the normal pension age for teachers from 60 to 65. The change will take effect for existing teachers on 1 September 2013. Pensions on service up to that date will continue to be payable from age 60. All service after 2013 will be on the basis of a normal pension age of 65 and subject to actuarial reduction if drawn before age 65.

The NUT calculates that teachers now at the start of their careers and who retire when they are 60 will lose tens of thousands of pounds unless they go on to 65.

Steve Sinnott, NUT General Secretary, said:

“The Government is not listening to teachers and other public service workers about the injustice of its proposals. I want members to support the strongest possible option - a one-day strike.

“The NUT, the other teachers’organisations and the public service unions have worked hard to persuade the Government to withdraw its proposals. But, so far, it has refused to budge.”

[Derek McMillan]

Update

The current edition of the NUT magazine, "The Teacher" has extensive coverage of the pensions issue including a calculation that

"he NUT calculates that a teacher who started work in September 2003 and who

retires in August 2040 aged 60 after 37 years’ service would, under the

current pension scheme, receive a pension of £10,777 plus a lump sum of

£32,330 (on the basis of the current salary of £23,301).

Under the government’s proposals, that same teacher would receive a pension

of £9,137 – £1,640 less – and a lump sum of just £27,410

(£4,920 less).

Government figures show that a male teacher retiring at 60 can expect to live

to 85, meaning a pension loss over 25 years of £41,000, plus the £4,920

lost from the lump sum, a total loss of £45,920.

Women, who can expect to live another 28.1 years after retiring, can expect

a total loss of £51,004.

A teacher retiring in 2018 after 35 years’ service stands to lose less

but would still face a pension cut of £440 a year and £1,321 off

the lump sum. That’s a total expected loss of £12,321 for men and

£13,685 for women.

Teachers who retire on or before August 31 2013 are not affected

(Of course the problem with the final sentence is that is the situation now. If New Labour get this change through they may well decide to start attacking the pensions of older teachers. You cannot believe a word they say.)

[Derek McMillan]

The government said pension changes were not negotiable.

After proposed strike action across the public sector they said they really meant it was negotiable.

They say TLR (an abbreviation meaning pay cuts for teachers) is not negotiable.

Draw your own conclusions.

http://socialistteachers.org.uk/PublicationTLR.pdf

New newsletter from Lewisham NUT on TLR.