- Conference
- 2003 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 29 May 2003
- Decision
- Carried
Conference congratulates the work of UNISON nationally, regionally and locally in highlighting the threat to our pensions. Recent developments in the pensions industry such as the closure of many final salary schemes, either completely or to new entrants, the multi-million pound mis-selling scandals, and the near collapse of longstanding financial institutions have all strengthened the need for a decent basic state pension and the restoration of the link with earnings.
Despite government initiatives such as raising payments to poorest pensioners, free eye tests and the £200 winter fuel allowance, too many pensioners are still condemned to live and die in poverty.
Conference condemns the continuing closure of final salary schemes and the potential threats to occupational pension provision in the public services. The move to shift financial risk to members of schemes by replacing final salary with money purchase arrangements is a particularly cynical approach being adopted by many companies.
Conference reaffirms its policy, that, where employers do not offer a final salary pension scheme, they should be compelled to make a minimum level of contribution in order to provide a chance of matching the levels of benefits that would be provided by a final salary scheme. Conference notes that to provide this level of benefits a combined long term contribution rate of between 15 and 20 per cent is required, and considers that employees should be required to shoulder no more than a third of this.
Conference notes the publication of the report by Alan Pickering published in July 2002. Conference is concerned at many of the proposals set out in this report and registers its disagreement with the following:
1)change of pension acrual rate from 1/80th to 1/100th (one per cent);
2)change of definition of pensionable salary to career average earnings;
3)no requirement to provide a spouse’s pension;
4)no requirement to index-link in the future.
These proposals would allow employers to downgrade the quality of occupational schemes and discriminate against women. The net effect will be to erode the value of occupational pensions and unless the state pension is to be greatly enhanced, ensure a retirement income of penury for a great many pensioners.
Conference is concerned that the Government’s proposals fail to recognise that ill health, the outsourcing of public services and redundancy means that a significant number of employees lose their jobs prior to reaching 60 years of aged, and that the stealth tax introduced by the Government which is costing approximately £5 billion per year has forced many companies to cut or drop final salary schemes with employees forced into money purchase schemes.
Conference rejects the Government’s claim in its recent Green Paper on pensions that talk of a pension crisis is overstated and calls upon UNISON to oppose these proposals in their infancy. Conference calls upon the Government to rethink its Green Paper, to address current gaps in pension provision, and halt the closure of final salary schemes.
The Government is therefore urged to legislate to:
a)make employers pay realistic amounts into decent final salary pension schemes;
b)provide tax breaks to companies that are maintaining existing final salary schemes;
Conference is gravely concerned at the implications of the proposals to raise the minimum age for early retirement to 55 for all pension schemes and to increase the age for qualifying for an unreduced pension to 65 across all public sector schemes. Conference considers raising the retirement age is not an effective way of encouraging people to work for longer, and that all it will achieve is to force workers who are obliged to retire early to survive for longer on state means-tested benefits before they can draw their pension.
Conference is also concerned at the looming crisis facing young workers. Conference notes not only the lack of pertinent information made available to young people about the importance of pensions provisions, but also the fact that many young workers are unable to save for their future as a direct result of the youth rate and exemptions in the National Minimum Wage.
Conference recognises the work that UNISON has already undertaken to defend and extend final salary schemes and to highlight the inadequacy of pension provision in the outsourced public services. Conference welcomes the launch by the TUC of its pensions campaign, and its prioritisation of this area of work for the coming year.
Conference calls upon the National Executive Council to:
i)mount a high profile UNISON campaign to highlight the need to maintain public sector pension schemes and fight for improved pension schemes in the voluntary sector;
ii)work together with the service groups to defend and promote good occupational schemes and resist inappropriate changes to rules on retirement age;
iii)conduct research across the union into the adequacy of current pension provision and the minimum level of contributions needed to provide low to average paid workers with a decent pension in retirement;
iv)work with regions and branches to continue to monitor changes and threats to pension provision in the public services
v)give further consideration to ways in which a campaign involving UNISON members can be developed with a view to resisting the detrimental changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme and other occupational pension schemes;
vi)work with the National Young Members’ Forum and National Retired Members’ Committee to raise the profile of the pension crisis to young workers;
vii)continue to work with other trade unions, the TUC, the National Pensioners Convention, the Institute of Employment Rights and other appropriate bodies to campaign for changes in UK employment law designed to secure better protection of pensions for workers;
viii)campaign within Government to ensure fair access to pensions for women workers and to engage with the TUC in analysing the effect of inadequate pension provisions on female poverty;
ix)campaign within the TUC to secure a commitment from the Government to introduce legislation for a pension policy that avoids financial uncertainty in retirement causing personal hardship and damage to local economic regeneration;
x)continue to campaign to reduce the level of means-testing on the pensions credit and restore the value of the basic state pension, inlcuding linking pensions increases to pay increases and not price inflation;
xi)call upon the TUC, in consultation with pensioners’ organisations, to plan a day of action to demonstrate the widest possible support for improved pensions policy with a view to supporting a universal system that will provide financial security to all older people both now and in the future;
xii)campaign through the Affiliated Political Fund and within the TUC for the enactment of legislative changes to force pension schemes to have a least 50 per cent of its trustee board drawn from member-nominated trustees and to improve the consultation rights of pension fund/scheme members;
xiii)campaign for a fair wages clause in the public services that would cover pensions for new starters in outsourced services;
xiv)continue to lobby the Government for full protection of occupational pensions under TUPE;
xv)refer this motion to the Affiliated P