A Unison member
Demonstration in Southampton by Unite and Unison against Tory attacks on terms and conditions and cuts in public services, photo by Dave Smith

Demonstration in Southampton by Unite and Unison against Tory attacks on terms and conditions and cuts in public services, photo by Dave Smith   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Council workers are facing unprecedented attacks – in the form of massive job cuts and a tearing up of terms and conditions in many areas.

In just two weeks time it is expected that the government will announce their intention to impose a 3% increase in public sector pension contributions. This is a pay cut in real terms and comes on top of a two-year pay freeze. Unless defeated through mass strike action, many workers will be faced with the choice of pay up or be forced out of the pension scheme.

The government is also proposing a career average instead of final salary scheme. They plan to cut the local government pension from 1/60th of our annual salary to as low as only 1/100th and they want to make us work till we are 68.

These changes, if effected, could cost some workers up to £1,000 more a year for a pension worth nearly half of what they would get now.

Even some of the employers are panicking. They are predicting that 20-40% could leave the schemes, sending the funds into downward spirals.

If the government gets away with it, this would be the biggest attack on public sector workers’ pay and conditions in a generation. That is why it requires the unions to use the full strength of the five million public sector trade unionists.

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison has now declared that Unison will ballot over the summer or early autumn for strike action over pension attacks if the meeting with government on 28 June does not lead to a deal. Prentis also said: “It will not be one day of action – it will be long-term industrial action throughout all our public services to prevent destruction of our pension schemes.”

This is to be welcomed by Unison members and other public sector trade unionists. This shows that trade union leaders can be forced to ballot for action, when faced with an onslaught of attacks from this government and growing anger from public sector workers.

The start of the fightback will come from the three quarters of a million workers in education and the civil service who are preparing to strike on 30 June.

Unfortunately Unison will not be taking action with other unions on 30 June but the union leaders are calling on all members to support the lobbies and demonstrations and for members not to cover the work of the strikers.

Only recently Socialist Party members on the Unison national executive tried to commit the union to action on pensions no later than 31 October 2011 but this was not agreed. At a local level there are Unison branches whose members are demanding to ballot for strike action against cuts. They are being prevented from doing so by the union leadership. These ballots should now immediately be sanctioned.

We must now give full backing to the 30 June strike and use it to build for an all public-sector strike that would rock this government to its foundations.

  • Unison must be ready to start the pensions ballot immediately if the government refuses to back down on pension attacks
  • For an all public-sector strike in defence of pensions
  • Defend the final salary scheme
  • No increases in contribution rates
  • No to lower pension benefits