Unions insist they will press on with plans to strike in protest against public sector pension reform, despite having welcomed newly-announced government concessions on the matter.

Union leaders are seeking to stage a huge strike at the end of November but claim that they will consider the impact of the concessions before it goes ahead.

The government proposes to make sure that any public sector worker currently within ten years of qualifying for their pension will not see it fall in value, nor will they have to work any longer.

Ministers have also said that they will boost the accrual rates by which the new career average public sector pensions are calculated, from 1/65 to 1/60 of average salary for each year worked.

The Trade Union Congress says it has "welcomed this movement in the government's position". The organization says, however, that the proposals "will now need to be considered in detail within the sector specific negotiations, alongside all the other issues including proposed contribution increases, increases in the pension age, and the impact of the indexation change from RPI to CPI".

With the new offer failing to cover these other issues, the TUC say that "unless and until further real progress is made and acceptable offers are made within those negotiations, unions remain firmly committed to continuing their preparations for the planned day of action on November 30".

Unison, the largest individual union representing public sector workers, revealed on Thursday that 245,358 members voted in favour of a strike, while 70,253 were against staging one.

Divided unions?

Sky News reported that unions have been divided in their response to the government's offer, threatening the united front they have planned to demonstrate on the issue.

Unions claim to enjoy the backing of the public on opposing their pension changes, but the government appears to believe they can make unions look stubborn and out of touch. Less than one-third of Unison members bothered to vote in their strike ballot, raising doubts as to whether they have a popular mandate to launch an effective strike.

There have also been questions raised about the unions' approach from the private sector. Simon Walker, Director General of the Institute of Directors, said: "It is not reasonable that private sector employees who will never enjoy defined benefit pensions should continue to subsidize public sector workers insulated from economic reality".

Joanne Segars, Chief Executive of the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), said: "The Government's announcement is an important milestone in the negotiations on public sector pensions reform. Such reform is necessary to guarantee their long-term sustainability and to ensure public sector workers can continue to receive good quality pensions."

03.11.2011

dbillingham@wilmington.co.uk