Laughing all the way to the bank...

Public service workers are being asked to pay for the bankers' crisis, by an average increase in their pension contributions of more than 50% if they earn above £15,000 full time. This extra money isn't being used to improve the pension schemes for the future – it's going straight to the Treasury to pay for the bankers' crisis.

But why can't the bankers' pay for the crisis out of their own pockets? Is it because their own pensions aren't big enough? InFocus uncovered the facts about some of the pension pots that bankers have to struggle by on during their retirement and compares them to the 'gold-plated' pensions of some of our public service workers.

After all: 'We're all in this together' – right?

Eric Daniels: aged 59
Group chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group.
Worked there from June 2003, retired 28 February 2011.
Pension pot: valued at £5.03 million last December.
Annual pension: £210,000 a year.

Gill Malik: aged 59
Housekeeper in West Suffolk Hospital.
Worked there for 20 years (contracted out for seven years).
Pension if she retires at 60: £1,782 a year.
Pension if she retires at 65: £2,764 a year.

Fred Goodwin: aged 50 at retirement
Chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Worked there from 2001 to 2009.
Annual pension: £342,500.
Poor Mr Goodwin had to reduce his pension following public outcry and negotiations with RBS. However, he was entitled to keep an estimated £2.7m tax-free lump sum as well, which would have helped to soften the blow.

Carole Maleham: aged 59
Driver for museums and arts for Rotherham borough council.Employed by council for 26 years (unable to join the pension scheme for many years as she was a part-time worker).
Expected pension: £3,000 a year.

John Varley: aged 54 at retirement
Chief executive of Barclays PLC until 31 Dec 2010.
Worked at Barclays for 28 years.
Pension pot: £18.256 million.
Annual pension: £619,000 a year.

The Branch Hardship Fund

A message from our Branch Secretary:

This ballot is probably the most important thing you will ever have to vote on in your working life: not just for you, but for every new employee in the future.

What this Coalition government is aiming to do with your pensions is nothing short of theft and is totally unfair. No other pension scheme outside of the Public Sector is being attacked in this way. Why should we have to Work longer and Pay more to Get less?

I cannot stress how important it is to get a really big yes vote if we are to make the government wake up and listen to us.

Of course everyone will suffer some degree of financial loss by striking. We are all going to lose a day’s pay and everyone will feel the pinch, especially given the current economic climate and our ongoing pay freeze.

If any member feels that they will suffer particular hardship as a consequence of taking a day’s action (maybe because they are already on low pay or receiving a means-tested benefit, have nursery fees to pay or large debts) they can make a claim to the hardship fund. There are no hard and fast rules. In the past we have had few applications, and every one has been successful.

There is a form to fill in. I know it looks rather intimidating but your steward will be more than happy to help you fill it in if you find the form particularly difficult. We will need to see wage slips showing the strike deduction and the one for the previous month. We cannot agree hardship fund applications or give out any money until we have seen these two wage slips. The deductions won’t come out until the December pay run, so we will be considering applications as early as possible in January. We will make payments as quickly as we can.

I can assure you that all claims will be dealt with sensitively and in the strictest confidence. Please Vote YES to protect your Pension!!!!

In solidarity,

Caroline Glendinning
Oxford City UNISON Branch Secretary

Pension cuts: what could they mean to you?

For the latest on what the cuts to the LGPS could mean to you, please see UNISON's latest newsletter (click here).

Also, please click here to sign the e-petition against the change from using RPI to CPI to measure pension uprating. This sees a cut in all our pensions, even for those who have already retired.

The latest news on pensions dispute

It has been announced that the ballot for industrial action over pensions will open on 11^th OCTOBER and run through to 3^rd NOVEMBER.

The latest regional news on pensions and other issues can be found in the regional newsletter (click here). You may also be interested in information from Channel 4 that shows Hutton is either an idiot or a big fat liar (click here).

Coventry UNISON pensions video

Here is a video made by UNISON members in Coventry:

Hands off our pensions!

The TUC today unanimously passed a motion supporting strike action in defence of public sector pensions. The motion was proposed by UNISON's General Secretary, Dave Prentis. Read what he said here.

While some other unions took strike action in June this year, UNISON was one of the unions who held back while negotiations continued. We've been patiently waiting for 8 months now. As Dave said this morning, "there comes a time when we say 'enough is enough'".

Here are the key issues to remember when you are called upon to place your cross on the ballot paper in the next few weeks:

• Our pensions were reduced in 2008 with the abolition of the "85 year rule" which allowed those of us with at least 25 years service to retire at 60 on an unreduced pension.



• Savings made by that and other changes implemented in 2008 mean our pensions are now sustainable in the long term.



• This round of pension cuts is purely about taking our money to plug the hole in the economy left by the £multi-billion bail out of the bankers.



• From April 2011, our pensions have already been drastically reduced (by at least 15%) by simply changing the measure of inflation used when calculating the annual uprating. No one was consulted about this.



• Those of us in the pension scheme are now being told to pay an additional 3% of our earnings in contributions. This money does not go to the pension scheme - it goes straight to the treasury. It is a tax on pensioners. If you aren't in the scheme, you don't pay it.



• We are also being asked to work longer (until 67) and receive less at the end, due to a reduction in the accrual rate.

It's time to say "Enough is enough!" HANDS OFF OUR PENSIONS!

Please make sure you receive your ballot paper, by updating your details on-line.

If you have not used this service before, you'll need to register first. Please have your membership number handy. If you don't know your membership number, please ring UNISONdirect on 0845 355 0845.

The Great Pensions Robbery

Robert Maxwell was a crook who stole from his employees' pension funds - but he had nothing on George Osborne who, within weeks of becoming Chancellor had raided the future pensions of millions of workers, in the public and private sectors, of billions of pounds. He did this by changing the future basis of uprating our pension benefits from the Retail Price Index (RPI) to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

This dramatic move had been in the manifesto of neither party to the Coalition of millionaires - indeed it directly contradicted promises made by all three main parties before last year's General Election.

Estimates of the cumulative loss for those of us not yet retired range upwards from 15% (or almost one pound in every six which we had been promised for the rest of our lives).

This is one element of the Government's attack upon pensions which not only applies across the whole public sector but also unites public and private sector workers. It is a move they show no sign of even considering stepping back from.

This is an opportunity to try to use the e-petition site in the interests of working people rather than for reactionary knee jerk populism - the petition is at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1535.

All trade unionists, and indeed everyone who believes promises should be kept, should sign!