Unite votes resounding YES to public sector strike action on
November 30
17 November 2011
Members of Unite, the country's biggest union, working in the
public sector have voted resoundingly in favour of industrial
action to defend their pensions.
Three in four of Unite members who voted have said `yes' to
joining the national day of action on November 30. In Unite's
three main aggregate ballots of health, civil service and local
authority workers, 75 per cent of Unite members voted in favour of
action on a turnout of 31 per cent.
Over 200 single employer ballots are also taking place, with
positive results already in for workers in Mersey Tunnels, Greater
Manchester Transport, Glasgow city council, Scottish Water, West
Midlands Police Authority, Northern Ireland bus services, Cardiff
buses, the British Film Institute, the British Museum and South
Yorkshire Police.
Unite's members are now set to join millions of fellow public
sector workers whose unions have already returned a `yes' vote,
supported by the major medical professional unions which have
pledged their full backing for the day.
The vote heaps further pressure upon the government to rethink
its plans to force public sector workers to pay more and work
longer, but for a poorer pension in retirement.
Commenting on the result, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey
said: "Yet again public sector workers are telling the government
that `enough is enough'. They have endured wages cuts, rising
living costs and horrific job losses, as this government forces the
less well off in this country to pay for the sins of the elite.
They are not prepared to stomach this attack on their pensions,
too.
"This is the courageous defence of their savings by the backbone
of this country; the people who day in, day out, care for our
young, our frail, our elderly, our homes, streets and parks; the
people who, after decades of loyal service to this nation, will be
lucky to have £5,600 per year to live on.
"One in five people in this country - some 12 million adults -
either pay into or are in receipt of a public sector pension.
Now this government wants to take that away from them, forcing
families to find in many cases hundreds of pounds more per month
for their pension, at a time when simply making ends meet is so
tough.
"On November 30, we fully expect millions of public sector
workers and their supporters to show their disgust at the
government's plans. If the government seriously wants to
avert a long dispute and heal the divisions it is causing, it needs
to get back round the table with some sensible plans for solving
the problems it alone has caused."
In Scotland, a deal has been struck with the Scottish government
to freeze the increase in contributions of local government
employees. While Unite sees this as progress, wage freezes, the
change in contribution calculation for all public workers coupled
with the increase in retirement age means that workers will still
be paying more for less.
For all public sector workers in England, Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland, the change in the way the pensions are calculated
from RPI to CPI will see 15 per cent automatically wiped off the
value of pensions. Unite is one of a group of unions
currently challenging this move in the High Court.
ENDS
For further information call the Unite press office on 020 3371
2065 OR Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931315 OR Shaun Noble on 07768
693940.
