Teaching union accepts pension deal

A teaching union has decided to accept the Government's controversial pension reforms, it has been announced.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), which represents 160,000 teachers, said the move followed the results of a poll of members in which 91.6% of respondents voted in favour of the proposals.

ATL president Alice Robinson said: "ATL members are realists. They recognise how tough times are and that the Government is determined not to give any further ground.

"Although the Government's final offer does not give us everything we wanted, it is the best deal we could get in the current economic climate. And members do not want a significantly worse deal imposed on them if they rejected this one."

ATL members took part in November's strike by up to two million public sector workers in protest at the pension changes.

Despite previously striking on pension reforms,
 the ATL has decided to accept the
Government's controversial pension reforms

The announcement means there will not be a repeat of such a huge strike, although leaders of other unions are discussing further walkouts because of continued opposition to the Government's reforms.

Mary Bousted, ATL's general secretary, said: "The pensions talks and negotiations were incredibly tough. The Government did not want to make concessions and we had a hard fight to get a fairer deal for teachers.

"It was only because ATL members, along with the members of six other education unions, were prepared to show their strength of feeling by going on strike and lobbying their MPs that we managed to force the Government to shift its position and start talks to get an improved offer.

"I am really proud of the courage ATL members showed when they took part in the union's first national strike in its 127-year history.

"We are still not happy about the pension contribution rates for 2012 to 2014, on which the Government refused to negotiate. But we will negotiate hard over the rates from 2015 onwards."

©Press Association 2012

PCS WARNS OF NEW PENSIONS ACTION

Leaders of the biggest Civil Service union today confirmed their rejection of the Government's final offer on public sector pensions and called for fresh industrial action if improvements are not offered.

The executive of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) also warned of legal action if the union is excluded from any future negotiations.

PCS said unions representing around a million workers in the Civil Service, education, local government and health, had either rejected or refused to sign up to the Government's offer.

Teaching unions have refused to go along with the proposed deal while sections of Unite have rejected it, as well as the PCS.

There had been no movement on the core issues since last November's strike by up to two million workers, said the PCS executive, which agreed that further co-ordinated action should be organised unless more talks are held.

General secretary Mark Serwotka said: "From the very start ministers have quite obviously tried to suffocate the pensions talks, to bully and mislead, and to impose their will on millions of civil servants, teachers, council staff and health workers.

"We have consistently called for proper negotiations on the key issues of paying more and working longer for less, but the Government has refused at every point, leaving us with no choice but to oppose what is nothing more than a political attempt to make the least culpable pay the highest price for the failings of the banks.

"We have told ministers we expect to be included in any future discussions. But we are clear that, with no significant movement since two million public servants took strike action together on November 30, further co-ordinated industrial action will be necessary to stop these unfair and entirely unnecessary plans."

Other unions have decided to put the offer to a ballot of members or to continue discussions with a view to holding a vote on whether to end the bitter dispute.

Unions involved in the long-running dispute will meet tomorrow to discuss their next move.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "The decision by the PCS remains disappointing.

"It is even more disappointing when the leader of the PCS union did not turn up to a single one of the 14 formal meetings with Civil Service unions to discuss the pension reforms.

"The talk of more strike action by the PCS will not achieve anything.

"We welcome the news from those unions that have said they will continue with pension discussions on the basis of the heads of agreement, with a view to securing a final proposal that can be put to their members.

"These heads of agreements represent affordable long-term pension reform which is both fair to the Civil Service workforce and to the taxpayer."

A PCS spokesman replied: "What is disappointing is that, instead of talking to us about the key issues, the Cabinet Office is continuing to peddle half-truths at the same time as threatening to exclude us from future discussions."

Meanwhile, leaders of 25,000 Unite members in the Ministry of Defence and other Government departments rejected the pensions offer today.

General secretary Len McCluskey said: "It is clear from the decisions of the three executive committees representing our public sector members that the current proposals are unfair.

"The message to ministers is that the wide-scale protests on November 30 highlighted the serious concerns that public sector employees have about being forced to pay more, work longer and receive less when they retire.

"Unite again calls on ministers to enter into real, genuine and meaningful negotiations to reach a fair and equitable solution."


©Press Association 2012

COUNCIL STAFF REJECT PENSION OFFER

The Government's hopes of resolving the bitter dispute over public sector pensions received a fresh blow today when leaders of tens of thousands of council workers rejected a final offer.

Unite's national local authority committee turned down the proposed deal, saying "genuine discussions" should be held without "arbitrary" deadlines.

The move follows a similar decision last week by the union's health executive and a decision by the British Medical Association 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.

The two biggest teaching unions also refused to sign up to the deal as they pressed for more talks.

Unite has rejected the Government's pension offer

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: "Unite's local authority representatives have lost trust after (Communities and local Government Secretary) 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.

Unite - Eric Pickles MP "let the cat out of the bag." 

"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."

Unite said a row before Christmas over a letter from Mr Pickles, raising the issue of an employer cost-ceiling on pension contributions, had caused a "crisis" of confidence and trust.

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

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.

Bob Neill, Minister for Local Government

Bob Neill, Minister for Local Government, 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."

PA 2012