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UNISON
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UNISON West Dunbartonshire Branch 2002
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Pensions
Dispute News
Strike
CANCELLED for Wednesday 23 March
Victory in
pensions dispute -
threat of
action forces policy climbdown
UNISON today called off planned strike action by 800,000 of its
public sector members due to go ahead on Wednesday (23 March), following an 11th
hour agreement reached last Friday.
Lengthy negotiations - led by UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis – resulted
in a written statement by deputy prime minister John Prescott, confirming the
withdrawal of the Amendment Regulations, which would have raised the pension and
retirement ages.
He also agreed to the setting up of a negotiating forum on the Local Government
Pension Scheme with "nothing ruled in or out".
At the same time work and pensions minister Alan Johnson called for a fresh
start on discussions and for real negotiations on pensions across the whole of
the public sector, saying, "I think we need to take the time to get this
right."
Dave Prentis said: "The strike is off but I have no doubt that had it gone
ahead on Wednesday we would have seen a massive show of strength and solidarity
across public services.
"However, I am pleased that the government has listened. Our aim throughout
talks with the deputy prime minister has been to have these regulations revoked
and to have real negotiations on how we can have a viable, sustainable pension
scheme that will benefit all. We have achieved both these objectives and we now
look forward to meaningful talks on the future of our members' pension schemes.
"The commitment we have from the deputy prime minister would not have been
possible without the determined campaigning and hard work of our members. Local
government unions have presented a united front and the support of the PCS and
FDA also contributed to the successful outcome of the talks.
"We also have to thank more than 200 MPs for their active support in
UNISON's campaign."
Further
Information - What
is the dispute about?
For
more information on the background to the dispute and why public service workers
in Unison and sister unions voted to take action on pensions, follow the links
below:
Unison
UK Pensions Campaign Page
Unison
Scotland Pensions Campaign Page
Review of public sector pension schemes: UNISON factsheet
Why public service workers are angry about their pensions - a UNISON factsheet
on the review of the public sector pension schemes.
Acrobat
PDF version (UK Website)
UNISON rebuttal to the government's arguments on the
public sector pension schemes
Includes arguments general to all the public sector schemes and arguments
specific to the Local Government Pension Scheme.
Acrobat
PDF version (UK Website)
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