Public and Commercial Services Union
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We will oppose unfair and unnecessary tax on members
With the Hutton review due to report today, the government looks set to try to force staff to pay more and work longer, for less in retirement.
This is despite recent agreed changes to public sector pensions that the National Audit Office has confirmed mean they are affordable now and sustainable in the future.
For civil servants, increased costs would go straight to the Treasury to pay off the deficit, which even Bank of England governor Mervyn King admits would mean the wrong people were paying for the recession.
PCS is already considering a ballot for national industrial action over pensions, and is calling on the government to engage in meaningful negotiations when it meets unions next week.
Ministers have so far shown an unwillingness to negotiate, telling union representatives that there are things they will not discuss.
One such area is the change from using the RPI measure of inflation to CPI to calculate pension increases. For newer members of the civil service in the new career average scheme, many of whom are young and facing high living costs, this would mean a cut in their pensions of around a fifth.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “With the public sector pay freeze, high inflation and cuts to other benefits, forcing staff to pay more and work longer not only means a pay cut by another name, it would be an unfair and totally unnecessary tax on their work.
“Even the governor of the Bank of England agrees with us that public spending did not cause the recession. But this government, stuffed full of millionaires, appears happy to punish hard-working, loyal public servants for a problem caused by greed and recklessness in the financial sector.
“We are already considering a strike ballot and talking to other unions about co-ordinating any action, and the government now has a responsibility to negotiate properly over its plans, without ruling out crucial areas before we even get round the table.”
