Workers' Liberty

At the time of going to press, 1,200 members of Amicus/Unite employed at Grangemouth oil refinery are due to begin 48 hours of strike action at 6.00am on Sunday 27 April – the first strike in a British oil refinery since 1935.

The Railway Pensions Commission has published its final report. While ATOC and Network Rail have welcomed it, issuing similarly-worded press releases, the unions have not.

On 24 July the Mirror revealed that Royal Mail is planning drastic cuts to postal workers' pension rights. In the same week, London Transport workers voted 15-1 to strike against plans to cut back pensions for those retiring due to ill-health.

The Railway Pensions Committee has produced its first report, having scrutinised submissions from trade unions, employers and government. In general, it is a summation of and commentary on those submissions with additional sections covering the historical and legal background.

Here's the line-up of management attacks on you and your workmates' pension rights:

In August ASLEF train drivers at GB Railfreight voted by about 2:1 not to strike against the company closing the final-salary pension scheme to new starters.

While RMT and TSSA were holding an industry- wide aggregated ballot on pension rights in June, ASLEF negotiated their way out of the dispute on a company-by-company basis promising that any company not signing up would face industrial action. They threw away the strength of a united rail union strike with an aggregate ballot preferring instead to get what they could for some drivers and leaving the others to take their chances. Maybe at the time they thought this would only effect the non-driving grades? Obviously that wasn't the case.

Pensions, Pay and Privatisation

Why healthworkers should reject the NHS Pension proposals

With accusations still flying around that it was overly generous pay deals that led to the current financial crisis in the NHS it might seem a little selfish for staff to be worrying about their pensions when the future of the NHS itself now seems to be at stake.

A leaflet produced by AWL healthworkers for the NHS Together / TUC lobby of parliament on November 1st, 2006.

At a meeting on 21/10/05 of the Executive of the civil service union PCS, the TUC-Government deal on public sector pensions - which creates a two-tier pension system in health, civil service, and teaching, and leaves local government and the fire service in the lurch - was endorsed with only one vote against, from AWL member John Moloney.

According to the FT at the weekend concern is mounting at the rising deficit in BA's pension scheme. Concern that is in the City. BA's workers should also be concerned as BA proposes making changes to the scheme that would raise retirment ages for Pilots and Cabin Crew.

At the weekend I was at the oulaws for a while. Despite the fact both had worked in the Public Sector they were up in arms about a report on the Front Page of he Daily Express about how that rabid socialist Tony Blair was featherbedding Civil Service pensions. It wasn't surprising given the way the Express told the story, though why any sentient being reads let alone believes anything on its pages is another matter.

After the formalities and back-slapping that mark the start of Congress, the first big debate was on Pensions. As I reported yesterday, we had a long and uncontroversial composite motion on the subject.

Crucial proposals affecting all NHS workers have once again appeared during the summer holidays, and once again the NHS unions have signed up to give away some of our rights, on proposals that are still only half-written.

To understand the significance of the pensions dispute, we have to give it context. Pension provision for all workers in Britain is under sustained attack. Employers constantly announce that final-salary schemes are being closed and replaced by inferior money purchase schemes. Even these will be attacked when employers read the government’s Pensions White Paper.

The TUC welcomed the Government's White Paper on pensions, published in May. Only the week before, it had set out five "bottom-line" tests for the White Paper. Even on a generous reading, the White Paper passed only one.

Off The Rails leaflet for RMT pensions rallies, and for rail workplaces and union branches.

Click 'read more' to read text. Click 'download' to view, download or print (PDF, 2 sides of A4)

Please adapt as suitable for your union branch, submit these motions, and let us know the results.

Responding to the BNP's May successes

Pensions White Paper

Labour Party leadership.

This --- opposes the Government's proposals in the Pensions White Paper to raise the state pension age to 68 by 2050.

RMT & TSSA are balloting their members on national rail to secure the future of the Railway Pension Scheme.

TSSA's ballot on action to defend railworkers’ pensions went down to a No vote. Which is probably what happens when (a) you build a union for decades on the basis of never going on strike, and (b) loads of your members are managers. RMT's ballot result, announced on 6 June, was: 16,203 for action (76.46 per cent) and 4,989 against (23.54 per cent), in a 50 per cent turnout. RMT's Executive decided not to name any strike dates. Instead, having previously rejected the “solution” of a tripartite “commission” to study the issue, it is now going along with it, albeit keeping the strike mandate 'live' and planning a series of rallies. RMT press release below.

The first-ever issue of an activists' bulletin for UNISON members produced by AWL UNISON members is now available. Covering the latest developments in the local government pension scheme campaign, and

By Mike Fenwick, UNISON

Trade union leaders in the TUC have welcomed the Government’s White Paper on pensions, published on 25 May.

Only the week before, the TUC had set out its “bottom-line” five tests for the White Paper. Even on a generous reading, the White Paper passed only one of the five tests.

By a pcs socialist caucus member

THE annual conference of the civil service union PCS, in Brighton on 7-9 June with group (sector) conferences on 5-6 June, will debate an emergency motion from the union's Executive to "welcome" the pension agreement made earlier this year.

rail

On Tuesday 6 June the rail unions RMT and TSSA will report the results of their ballots for industrial action over pensions. Their demands, covering all railworkers outside the London Underground, are for pensions to be maintained, worker contributions limited to 10.56%, the Railway Pension Scheme to be open to all railworkers, and the Scheme to be simplified into three sections in place of the over 100 sections which have proliferated since privatisation.

We applaud the firm stand taken by the leadership of the RMT and TSSA to defend our pensions in difficult circumstances. We are trying to force the same concessions out of over 100 companies for decades to come, in a climate where the pension benefits of working-class people are being disastrously eroded by employers and government alike.