Public sector pensions strikes: Thousands of council staff reject Government’s final offer

By
Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 9:41 AM on 10th January 2012

Tens of thousands of council staff yesterday rejected the Government’s final offer on public sector pensions – triggering fears that a wider deal could unravel and trigger fresh strikes.

Unite’s national local authority committee turned down the proposed offer blaming Communities Secretary Eric Pickles for triggering a ‘crisis’ of confidence and trust.

Ministers claimed before Christmas that most unions had accepted a deal on pension reform that would prevent a repeat of November’s nationwide strike by public sector staff. 

Could a second wave of public sector strikes over pensions be on its way?

Could a second wave of public sector strikes over pensions be on its way?

But a series of unions have now rejected the offer meaning that the Government is still facing significant opposition to its plans – despite making a series of concessions.

Unite’s health executive last week rejected the offer on NHS pensions, while two of the country’s biggest teaching unions have also refused to sign up to the deal.

The British Medical Association has also decided to survey around 130,000 doctors and medical students on the offer, raising the prospect of their first industrial action ballot for more than 30 years.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has been accused of laying down new conditions which have caused a crisis of confidence amongst Unions

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has been accused of laying down new conditions which have caused a crisis of confidence amongst Unions

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, which represents civil servants, has also rejected the offer and its leader Mark Serwotka has said that more strikes ‘may be necessary’.

Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, has insisted that ‘headline agreements’ had been reached with the majority of unions representing public sector workers in the NHS, education, local government and civil service.

The proposals will now be put to individual union executives and members over the coming weeks with ministers intending to draw up legislation to enact the new schemes by the spring.

Mr Pickles was recently forced to withdraw a letter to unions after he was accused by the GMB and Unite of laying down ‘new conditions’ that could be a ‘deal-breaker’.

Faced with the prospect of the pensions deal unravelling before it had even been formally announced, Mr Pickles was instructed to withdraw the letter and issue a replacement.

However, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said that the letter, which raised the issue of an employer cost-ceiling on pensions contributions, had triggered a ‘crisis’ of confidence and trust.

Mr 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.

Last year's public sector strikes saw thousands take to the streets in protest

Last year’s public sector strikes saw thousands take to the streets in protest

‘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 arbitrary deadlines.

Our members need clarity before we can move forward.’

Mr Pickles’s loosely-worded letter has also infuriated Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander who has led hard-fought negotiations with the public sector unions. 

Ministers are now concerned the plans could be rejected when scrutinised by individual union executives.

Leaders of the biggest public sector union, Unison, will meet today to consider the final offer, while unions will hold talks at the TUC later this week to decide their next move.

A clear picture of which unions will agree to the deal is unlikely to emerge until late January. 

Up to two million workers went on strike in November in protest at planned changes to their pensions and some union leaders have warned of more industrial action if the row remains unresolved.  

The PCS Union has rejected the offer and its leader Mark Serwotka has said that more strikes 'may be necessary'

The PCS Union has rejected the offer and its leader Mark Serwotka has said that more strikes ‘may be necessary’

The National Union of Teachers and the NASUWT have already called for further improvements to the public sector pension reforms, which include higher contributions, later retirement and a switch from final-salary to career-average pensions.

Reforms will halve the ruinous cost of public sector pensions to the taxpayer in the long term.

But they still leave public sector workers with pensions beyond the dreams of most counterparts in the private sector. Many lower-paid workers will end up with higher pensions, although they will have to work longer to get them. 

Minister for Local Government Bob Neill said: ‘The decision by Unite is disappointing, but Unite only have 30,000 members in the Local Government Pension Scheme, out of a total active membership of 1.6 million.

‘Our proposals represent a good deal for public sector workers and taxpayers. We need to put local government pensions on a sustainable and fair footing, and this is a generous offer.

‘Town hall pensions now cost taxpayers £300 per household per year, and the cost has trebled since 1997. 

‘This is not fair on families and pensioners struggling to pay their council tax bills, and that is why this Government is committed to fair reforms.’

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The second hand car salesmen who patrol these forums and want public sector workers to lose out should look at a better example in the private sector where Unilever workers have decided to strike rather than see a profitable company rob their pensions to pay their board members bigger bonuses. Maybe You just need to grow a pair rather than criticise those who simply want the pensions they contractually agreed to.

“Sack them.Give the jobs to people who are willing to accept the new terms”- jtr, manchester,…Good luck finding 30,000 doctors, 300,000 teachers, and millions of others from firemen and radiographers to university professors and paramedics – all fully qualified and with experience – from the ranks of the unemployed. Terms between an employer and employee are mutually agreed, not simply imposed by one side. Public sector workers are already working within their agreed terms – it is the government which seeks to change them unilaterally and in a way that will make them much poorer in old age, and make them work beyond the time which was agreed when they were recruited. If the government genuinely can’t afford their pensions, which I doubt, they should be willing to offer their workers something which is at least acceptable to them, and they haven’t done that yet.

lets face it , the jobs at the council will be outsourced in a few years and then they wont have any reciorse like the rest of us
– delman666, london, 10/1/2012 10:02……………Which is why the government is trying to lower the cost, so private contractors take on those staff at a lower cost and make more profit. You are naive in thinking that worse pensions for public sector workers will mean more money for you. It will mean more profits for Tory Part backers and when the Publc sector pensioners (average of 5.6K) get less, then the taxpayer will pick up the bill later under state pension. Wake up and please don’t believe that the Eton boys actually have YOUR best interests at heart!

Not satisfied with your pension or wages! You don’t have a God give right to any of them especially in the public sector ..
A suggestion leave your employment give it to those that would love to work.
Start your your own business go self employed if you have the gutts!
It takes a man not is underpants..

Hopefully they won’t get one soon ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

IF THERE ISNT ANY MONEY ITS BECAUSE GOVERNMENTS HAVE PUMPED BILLIONS OF IT INTO THE EU………WHY SHOULD WE ALL BE MADE TO PAY FOR THAT???

Sack them.Give the jobs to people who are willing to accept the new terms

“Your unions are obsolete,” – reg, stoke, england…Without trade unions, working people are completely at the mercy of their bosses. Many of Britain’s bosses have shown themselves to be ruthless, conniving and greedy people who can not be trusted to look after the interests of their employees. Do you really want a return to the near slave labour of Victorian England’s workhouses and mills? I am not a supporter of union excesses or fat cat union bosses agitating for political power, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with working people organising and negotiating with their employers from a position of strength, rather than just being expected to take the scraps from the master’s table.

The real world says it cannot afford to subsidise your excessive public pension demands, please join the real world and accept the inevitable.
Your unions are obsolete, make sure they don’t make you obsolete too.

Strange how the AEEU, now AMICUS which is part of UNITE did nothing about the theft from private pension funds by Gordon Brown and the Labour party

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