Pensions Crisis

"NEW PENSION HELL FOR MILLIONS
Why four out of ten will be forced to work till they're 70

"Workers are having to watch their dreams of a comfortable retirement crumble as they realise their pensions are not enough to pay the bills, a damning report revealed last night.  This year alone, almost two million people - four in ten - will be forced to keep clocking in because they cannot afford to give up working...

"Critics of Britain's pensions system say millions are heading towards poverty in old age.  Millions of public sector workers will have to pay more into their pensions and retire on less..."

You might wonder where these words come from.  A TUC press release declaring war on the government over pensions?  Or maybe a left-wing journal or trade union bulletin?  In fact, they were on the front page of yesterday's Daily Express (Scottish edition, found discarded on the ferry from Mull to Oban).  If even a paper like the Express (no friend to the working class!) can realise that we are heading for a major pensions crisis, why is this government incapable of, or unwilling to draw the obvious conclusion.

Public sector workers (and those in the private sector, as the knock-on effect occurs across the workforce) will be expected to WORK LONGER, PAY MORE and RECEIVE LESS in spite of the fact that public sector pensions are affordable.  This is simply a way of making public sector workers, and ultimately the working class as a whole, pay for the economic crisis.

Pensions are deferred earnings, they are part of the value that we create and part of our pay packet, deferred until retirement.  For the government (or any employer) to change the terms of our pay after we have earned it is a complete abuse of trust.  Similarly, changing the pension scheme for new entrants will simply create a two-tier workforce in exactly the same way that employing new entrants on a new lower pay-scale would.  And, in time, those on higher the higher rate are likely to be forced down to the lower in the interests of 'fairness'.

Instead, unions must come together to fight for their members' pensions.  And this means building the strength and determination of members at every level to take action.  The UCU led the way with their recent strike action on 24th March but we need unions to act together to defend their members' rights.

After all, Unity Is Strength!