Unions gear up for strike ballot over pensions
NUT and ATL members to begin voting next week
Hundreds of thousands of teachers will be balloted next week over whether to hold rolling strikes in a bid to make the Government back down over controversial changes to their pensions.
On Tuesday 220,000 of the NUT's teacher members will receive their papers, with 85,000 of the ATL's members receiving theirs next Friday.
All members who belong to or are eligible to join the Teachers' Pension Scheme will be invited to vote, meaning a strike could affect colleges, some newer universities and independent schools as well as academies and maintained schools.
Balloting will continue until 14 June and union bosses will then decide whether to go ahead with the first day of action, which is expected at the end of June.
Further strikes could take place in the autumn term, with the NUT and ATL possibly joined by support-staff union Unison and even heads' unions the NAHT and ASCL.
If both the NUT and ATL vote in favour in the latest ballot, it is expected they will co-ordinate a strike on the same day. Both unions have said they wish to avoid exams.
The NASUWT, which represents a significant proportion of the profession, is yet to announce whether it will hold a ballot. General secretary Chris Keates said she is waiting for the outcome of talks between the TUC and the Government before proceeding.
The ballots come just two weeks after education secretary Michael Gove acknowledged that teachers had an "unspoken contract" with the Government on pensions.
He said that although the Government had accepted the recommendations of the recent Hutton review of public sector pensions in principle, each scheme would be looked at individually.
"We need to make sure that the unique circumstances and the unique commitment that teachers and headteachers give is recognised in whatever reformed system we arrive at," he told the annual conference of the NAHT.
More talks were understood to have taken place this week between unions and the Treasury, and they are expected to continue through the summer term. Union leaders insist that if a satisfactory agreement is reached, they will call off the action.
However, one aspect of the controversial reforms has already come into effect without negotiation - the switch from the Retail Price Index rate of inflation to the lower Consumer Price Index.
The Government has also announced plans to gradually increase contributions by 50 per cent from April 2012.
The overall direction of the dispute is most likely to rest on the potential axing of final salary pension schemes for teachers.
ATL general secretary Mary Bousted told The TES: "Our view is that the negotiations are not producing the answers we want. The Government hasn't responded to any of our warnings that the membership will not be walked over like this."
Comment (1)
Do not be put off by bogus arguments about Gold Plated pensions from the Daily Mail Tory lobby!
Teachers (& their employers) contribute 20% of their gross pay for their entire career; which can be up to 45 years. For that they get 1/80 of their final salary for every year worked in pension plus a lump sum or 1/60 if employed after 2007 with no lump sum. If they retire early they can lose up to 25% of final benefits due to actuarial reduction. On average teachers earn under £30,000 & currently the average teachers pension paid out is well under £10,000. The teachers scheme was altered 4 years ago and is FULLY FUNDED by members; there simply is no statistical argument for increasing contributions at all.
A 3.4 per cent increase in pension contributions by 2014 doesn't sound a lot but represents an extra £100 per month to each teacher on average, on top of a public sector pay freeze, higher indirect taxes, fall in relative earnings & rising inflation.............teachers are being asked to do more for less.
Most public sector pensions are a variation on the old Ponzi fraudulent investment scheme. Teachers, Fire service people, Police etc have all paid huge sums of money into the scheme to fund current pensions & are right to be upset that now they're going to be asked to cough up yet more.
The statistics for forcing this current increase in teacher pension contributions through are FUNDAMENTALY FLAWED. There is no Public Sector Pension 'Black Hole'; it is a statistically created crisis.
No Black Hole?
The ConDem's take the pensions of teachers alongside the Police service pensions, Fire service pensions etc and then add in the BLACK HOLE which is the Armed Forces pensions. Teachers & their employers currently pay in 20% of a teachers pay for up to 45 years, and the Police/Fire service pay in a greater percentage for less time alongside the employer’s contributions which pay in huge amounts. The Armed Forces pay absolutely no contribution to their pensions. In the words of Monty Python; not a sausage, bugger all!..........that is why we have a Public Sector Pension Black Hole.
Traditionally the Armed Forces were not asked to actually contribute to their pension; they were given a non-contributary pension award. I have no argument & am not asking the forces to pay 'more'; but the ConDem's should not use teachers to cross-subsidise the armed forces pensions.
The cure?
1. Look at teachers, fire service, police service and others who PAY MONEY IN large pension contributions already separate from those who don't.
OR
2. Pay the Armed Forces 10% extra in pay & then take it off them as a 'pension contribution'; then include them with teachers, fire service, police service and others in calculating overall pensions.
Either way the Public Sector Pension Black Hole will vanish completely or at least reduce to a manageable size in seconds! That way the ConDem's have no excuse for 'reining in' pensions!
Do not be taken in; this is simply the ConDem party telling teachers to pay for a financial crisis that was created by the banking sector. A banking sector who currently are raking in millions & paying themselves a huge bonus out of what is effectively public money!
BIG Questions
Why aren't bankers being TOLD to rein things in? Why do the ConDem's wish to effectively impose extra taxes on one section of public sector workers & ignore the damage done by bankers to the economy? Could it be to do with who financially supports the Tory Party?
People recently fought for democracy in Eygpt & are currently fighting for democracy in Libya; so how come we have an UNELECTED Tory government disguised as a ConDem party with NO MANDATE from the people causing more damage to the public sector services & workforce.
Our egyptian tahrir square 'moment' is fast approaching!
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13:53
16 May, 2011
Brooke Bond