Barton Wickets, Enfield and Lea Valley Socialist Party
With Starmer’s cuts to winter fuel payments, it’s clear that the financial security of pensioners is at risk. It led me, in my thirties, to take more of an interest in my own retirement plans.
Despite our contributions to National Insurance, the reality is that the state pension alone (currently £221.20 a week) is unlikely to be sufficient for a comfortable retirement. Many of us will need to rely on additional government support or other pension schemes in order to retire.
The issue of workplace pensions creates a dilemma for someone looking to make sure investments are ethical. Many of us are actively fighting through our trade unions for fair wages and better pensions. However, many workplace pension schemes are invested in companies that actively work against working-class interests.
For example, my employer offers nearly 30 different pension schemes managed by a single asset management company. At first glance, several appear ethical, featuring labels like “Sustainable,” “Low Carbon,” or “Environmental Social Governance”. However, a closer examination reveals that these funds often support projects like airport expansions, weapons manufacturers, fossil fuel suppliers, and even British tobacco. This was concerning to say the least.
According to the Financial Conduct Authority Financial Lives Survey in 2022, 81% of adults in the UK want their pension investments to have a positive impact as well as provide financial returns. It’s hard to believe that many would consider investing in union-busting corporations that undermine workers’ rights, manufacture weapons or harm the environment as a positive contribution.
£3 trillion
Pension funds are worth an estimated £3 trillion in the UK. It was reported earlier this summer that the UK’s largest pension fund, the university ‘USS’ scheme sold off £80 million of its assets linked to Israel, under pressure from its members’ anger, expressed by the university workers’ union UCU, over the Israeli state’s war on Gaza.
I raised the issue in my trade union branch to see if any other members had thought further about where our investments are going. Most people hadn’t really thought about it. Why do we trust ‘asset management companies’ to decide where and how to invest our pensions savings?
The USS scheme is also the largest investor in Thames Water which faces imminent government bailout. Hardly expert risk-free investment!
Instead, we should have control over where our pension wealth is invested, with the democratic involvement of our trade unions. That would mean taking the vast pensions wealth out of the hands of the capitalists and nationalising under democratic workers’ control and management.
