Reject the deal - we CAN defeat this robbery

Today, at the Conference hosted by PCS Left Unity in Euston, trade unionists determined to fight the pensions robbery are meeting to restate our determination to defeat these attacks and organise to win.

Packed full and determined to fight pensions robbery

How can we accept a 'deal' that still means we pay more, get less and retire older?

For most of us, it certainly means 'retire older'. I've been teaching for 25 years but, under the terms of the Government's proposed ‘deal’, like many colleagues, I would only be a little over halfway through my teaching career!
 
The deal - an accrual rate of 1/57 in a career-average scheme - would certainly mean 'get less'. Compare that accrual rate to the much-better 1/43 rate in the civil service Nuvos scheme – it means pensions robbery. 

The Education 'Heads of Agreement' doesn't just mean we pay more - for me over £120 a month more by 2014 - but that the employers pay less. Their contributions would go down to 12.1%! 

No wonder Danny Alexander bragged in Parliament that he’d got the deal he wanted and that it made services “substantially more affordable to private providers” - those private profiteers ready to take on even more of our public services to run for their profits, not people's interests.

So we have to reject the deal – and if we are rejecting it, then have to fight.

Today's conference will call on the TUC to call a further day of action - but, if they don't, then the cross-union committee also being proposed from today's meeting must meet and propose plans for co-ordinated action across those many unions that are prepared to fight.

We CAN defeat this Government’s pensions robbery - and we MUST.