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Date: Wed 20 April 2011
UNISON tells STUC Congress that defending attacks on pensions
must be a priority
Workers should not be forced to pay a pension tax to compensate
for the bankers’ greed, says UNISON UNISON executive committee
member Gordon McKay, told the STUC Congress in Ayr today that
defending attacks on pensions must be a top priority.
He said: “Make no mistake - our pensions, as well as our jobs
and services, are under attack, from this Tory-led coalition
government which aims to make working people pay for the greed
of their banker friends who caused the crash.
“But let the coalition government in Westminster not be mistaken
either - we will fight to defend our pensions, as we will fight
to defend our jobs and our public services.”
Public service workers face a range of attacks on their pensions.
Changes to how pensions are calculated, from the Retail Prices
Index (RPI) to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), will cut average
pensions by more than 15%.
There are also increases to retirement age and the abolition
of pension protection for workers who are forced to transfer
to another employer outside the public sector. But the biggest
single issue facing our members is a proposed 50% increase in
pension contributions.
Gordon McKay continued: “The massive robbery the government
is planning on our pension contributions is nothing more than
a pension’s tax. This money isn't going into pension schemes,
it’s going straight to George Osborne to pay for the bailout
of the bankers.
“In short, workers are being expected to pay more, work longer
and get less.”
Moving a motion to defend public sector pensions and campaign
against unfair increases, Gordon Mackay warned delegates of
the dangers of forcing a pension’s tax on workers.
He said: “One of the dangers of this pension tax is that in
the face of the increased costs they will have to pay, and the
poorer benefits they will receive, many workers could choose
to opt out of their occupational pension provision altogether.
And that could be catastrophic for the viability of whole schemes.
“Attacking occupational pensions will actually result in higher
costs for the taxpayer by increasing benefit payments to pensioners
who are unable to meet a basic standard of living from their
state pension.”
ENDS
Notes for editors
1. UNISON is Scotland’s largest public services union. For
more information on the attacks on public sector pensions log
on to www.unison-scotland.org.uk/pensions
2. For more information on our campaign to protect public services,
or to download a copy of UNISON Scotland’s manifesto, log on
to www.unison-scotland.org.uk/publicworks
3. For further information contact Trisha Hamilton, communications
officer on 0141 342 2877 or 07939 478 461.
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