TRADE Union members at Warrington are preparing for an all-out day of industrial action on Wednesday next week – co-ordinating with similar action by public service unions across the country.
Picket lines will be set up at a number of locations across Warrington and there will be a rally at 12 noon at the GMB union office in Town Hill.
Unionists will then march on the Town Hall for a major protest.
In a joint statement, the Warrington branches of the two main Town Hall unions – Unison and GMB – said members had been balloted and voted overwhelmingly to take strike action in their dispute over the Government’s attack on local government pensions.
The statement added: “Public sector pensions are under attack. The Government wants to make people pay more and work longer for a lot less. Despite hours of talks, ministers have yet to seriously negotiate. Few understand all the detail of pensions but the issue is simple.
“Most public sector workers are modestly paid. Their pay has been frozen while the price of basics is shooting up. Now they are expected to pay an extra £3bn a year for much worse pensions, by a Government that cancelled the bankers’ bonus tax that raised almost the same.”
TRADE Union members at Warrington are preparing for an all-out day of
industrial action on Wednesday next week - co-ordinating with similar
action by public service unions across the country.
Unions plan day of action
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Gary Skentelbery
Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.
5 Comments
I suppose they could go Xmas shopping whilst on strike, but there again, can they afford to if they are losing pay? A no-brainer. No-one wins.
I can well understand people seeking to defend their pensions, but it might be worth noting that public sector pensions are some of the most generous available, their schemes are heavily in deficit but underwritten by the taxpayer, employees contributions are modest (about 7%) whereas the employer contribution is substantial and typically 20% of salary (probably needs to be about 30% in order to reduce the funding deficits) and it is no longer correct to say that local authority employees are poorly paid, whilst there are of course some on modest salaries (as indeed there are in the private sector), there are many on average and well above average salaries. Worth looking at a pension of say a local authority employee retiring on a modest £25,000 salary with 30 years local authority service, their pension would be just under £10,000 per year (subject to inflationary increases) on top of which they would get a one off lump sum of just over £25,000. It is highly likely that the employee’s lifetime pension contribution is actually less than the lump sum that they receive. The figures for a senior manager on say £80,000 with 30 years service would be a £31,000 indexed pension and a lump sum of £81,000.
You are the no brainer silversurfer it isn’t about winners or losers it’s about the truth and fact of a coalition government balancing the books for the incompetent unregulated pigs at the trough mentality / actions of bankers at the expense of public service workers The increase in contributions will not be received in the public pension pot but used to reduce at the expense of all public service workers a deficit created by bankers who remain unaccountable despite worldwide condemnation of there greed.
Another ill informed individual The facts are that Local government pensions are not the most generous and theire pension funds are not in deficit On the contrary they are and have always been managed.Hence the Coalition governments attempt to reduce the national debt created entirely by the greed of bankers at the expense of nurses firemen police officers refuse collectors social and community care workers and that is just the beginning of public service provision.For future reference do your homework and respond with fact not personal perception and to accomplish this there is a requirement to engage brain in the first instance
Pitbull…. don’t give me that bleeding heart public secor workers are hard done to nonsense…. I know of a copper who retired in May. He is 48 years of age. He gets a lifetime pension of almost £1800 a month and he now goes out and works every day; taking a job from someone who really needs it. Brown plundered the private sector pension funds the moment he got into office as chancellor in order to fund Labours “buy the votes” government campaigns and allowed uncontrolled immigration (along with war criminal Bliar) which is now condeming a million young people to the dole whilst the Poles and other Eastern Europeans take the low paid jobs which used to be the first step on the work ladder for our youth. I run my own business… I have had to slash my pension contributions because I can’t afford it… will the public sector workers care to hand some of their hard earned cash my way to fund my retirement?….. thought not