1 / 13

PENSIONS CAMPAIGN UPDATE

PENSIONS CAMPAIGN UPDATE. FEBRUARY 2012. Current position. Government continuing to press for cuts in teachers’ pensions. Government concessions on 2 November were welcome - but not enough NUT action on 30 June and threat of 30 November action helped to secure concessions

allen-kerr
Download Presentation

PENSIONS CAMPAIGN UPDATE

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. PENSIONS CAMPAIGN UPDATE FEBRUARY 2012

  2. Current position • Government continuing to press for cuts in teachers’ pensions. • Government concessions on 2 November were welcome - but not enough • NUT action on 30 June and threat of 30 November action helped to secure concessions • Government ‘final offer’ on 19 December involves no new money – but some repackaging • Government says negotiations are now over – NUT preparing for further strike action alongside other unions.

  3. Why haven’t we accepted the Government’s offer? • The Government still wants you to pay more, work longer and get less during retirement • Despite the Government’s claims, our pensions are affordable - £46bn more paid in than paid out since the scheme started!

  4. Key elements of Government 19 December offer • switch from final salary to career average. • increase in the normal pension age (the age at which pensions can be taken in full), to state pension age (68 or higher for anyone under 34) • pensions in payment to be increased with only CPI inflation; • if you retire before your NPA pension reduced by 3 per cent a year between ages 68 to 65 - 5% for years below 65 • accrual rate of 1/57th of pay per year of service (up from 1/60); • but built-up pension accruals to be re-valued only by CPI inflation + 1.6 per cent instead of by average earnings

  5. Pay More • Government plans 50% contribution rise, from 6.4% to an average 9.6% by 2014 • Increases start from April 2012 • Further increases in April 13 and April 14

  6. Work longer • Scheme pension age to be linked to State pension age • Under 34? Work till 68 for a full pension • Aged 34 to 50? Work till 67 • Aged 51 to 54? Work till 66 • Transitional protection if within 10 years of current pension age (see later) • Pension age may be even higher in future – 70+ for youngest teachers?

  7. Get Less • Career average means less for vast majority of teachers • Accrual rate of 1/57 of average salary per year but • Lower ‘revaluation rate’ means your pension will lose ground against average earnings over period to retirement • CPI inflation link takes £35,000 from teachers with £10,000 pension

  8. Transitional protection • Teachers within 10 years of NPA on 1 April 2012 stay on existing FS scheme • Teachers up to further 3.5 years away have tapered protection

  9. What will I lose? • Use the updated NUT pensions calculator at www.teachers.org.uk/pensions to see: • How much you’ll lose from your take home pay • How long you’ll have to work for your full pension • How much you’ll lose from your pension if you still retire at your current pension age • How much you’ll lose over a 25 year retirement due to lower pensions and lower indexation • If you’re 50+ at 1/4/2012 – you stay with current pension and retirement age, but you’ll still pay more and lose out from lower indexation

  10. Are our pensions affordable? • Yes – the TPS has already been reformed as a result of our agreement in 2006! • Reliable sources show the costs are already falling as planned • We’ve agreed to pay more – but only if the increase is justified, not to help pay the costs of the recession • Teachers’ pensions aren’t“gold plated” • Continuing our campaign will strengthen our hand in our negotiations and persuade the Government to move further

  11. The real pensions problem • The private sector • Two-thirds of workers have no scheme • 90% of final salary schemes are closed • Employers’ contributions cut by more than half • The result – higher costs to the State and future taxpayers • Cutting public sector pensions just makes everyone poorer in retirement • We need decent pensions for all!

  12. What happens next? • NUT in discussions with other unions on further national action • Priority issues = pension age and contribution hikes • Survey of members about willingness to take part in further action and on-going campaign • Encourage members to SAY YES

  13. What you can do • Hold a workplace meeting – open to all • Use the pensions loss calculator at www.teachers.org.uk/pensionscalc • View the news and briefings at www.teachers.org.uk/pensions • Encourage colleagues to complete the NUT survey • Sign the pensions e-petition at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29103 • Recruit any non union members to the NUT • Good luck and thanks!

More Related