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19/12/2011
Unions Hint At Pension Breakthrough
A union leader has said there could be a breakthrough on teachers' pensions, as the group hands the Government a 'fair pensions for all' Christmas card.
According to the BBC, there has been some agreement on the scheme affecting local government employees, which has been welcomed by a leading teachers union, the NUT.
Thousands of teachers have signed the NUT’s Fair Pensions for All Christmas card to Michael Gove, which was handed into the Department for Education on Monday.
Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said: “Teachers are angry, not just about their own pensions but also the level of the state pension and woeful provision in the private sector.
“The Secretary of State for Education should take time this Christmas to reflect on the strength of feeling in the teaching profession about the unfair changes this Government is proposing.
“For teachers this is far too important an issue. The profession as a whole will not be content to simply look on and watch pensions, which are affordable and sustainable, be drastically reduced in value.”
The BBC said a deadline of 3pm had been set by the government for union responses to its offer.
Unions representing public service workers will meet at the TUC on Monday afternoon.
The possibility of agreement comes only weeks after mass strikes ground the UK to a halt as public sector workers took to the streets to fight against increased contributions to their pension schemes.
(DW)
According to the BBC, there has been some agreement on the scheme affecting local government employees, which has been welcomed by a leading teachers union, the NUT.
Thousands of teachers have signed the NUT’s Fair Pensions for All Christmas card to Michael Gove, which was handed into the Department for Education on Monday.
Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said: “Teachers are angry, not just about their own pensions but also the level of the state pension and woeful provision in the private sector.
“The Secretary of State for Education should take time this Christmas to reflect on the strength of feeling in the teaching profession about the unfair changes this Government is proposing.
“For teachers this is far too important an issue. The profession as a whole will not be content to simply look on and watch pensions, which are affordable and sustainable, be drastically reduced in value.”
The BBC said a deadline of 3pm had been set by the government for union responses to its offer.
Unions representing public service workers will meet at the TUC on Monday afternoon.
The possibility of agreement comes only weeks after mass strikes ground the UK to a halt as public sector workers took to the streets to fight against increased contributions to their pension schemes.
(DW)
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