Unite rejects local government pensions offer

Tuesday, 10 January 2012 9:36 AM

The government’s latest proposals to cut local government pensions were rejected by Unite, Britain's biggest union, today (Monday, 9 January).

The Unite local authority national industrial sector committee (LANISC), which met today, rejected the ‘principles document’ as a basis for a satisfactory outcome. Last week (5 January) Unite's health sector national industrial sector committee (HSNISC) also rejected the government’s latest proposals on the NHS pension scheme.

Unite General Secretary, Len McCluskey said:

"Unite's local authority representatives have lost trust after Eric Pickles let the government's real agenda out of the bag.

"The security of our members in retirement is just too important to leave any space for doubt or mistrust, so the union's senior representatives in local government have rejected the government's proposals.

"Our senior representatives believe they have no choice but to reject the 'principles document' after Eric Pickles claimed the unions had made commitments which have not been fully discussed. There now needs to be genuine discussions without arbitary deadlines. Our members need clarity before we can move forward."

In a letter on 20 December, communities secretary, Eric Pickles claimed commitments including linking the local government retirement age to the state pension age, a career average pension scheme and introducing an employer cost ceiling of 10.9 per cent, had been agreed when, in fact, discussions on these important issues were still due to take place. The letter has caused a crisis of confidence and trust. Unite's local authority workers will now consider their next steps.

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• trade unions