British gov’t to open talks over pension reforms
Crunch talks aimed at heading off the threat of strikes by millions of public sector workers in the autumn will be held between union leaders and the government, with one official saying the negotiations were “fraught with difficulties.”
The meeting follows weeks of an increasingly bitter war of words between unions and government ministers over controversial plans to reform public sector pensions.
Unison leader Dave Prentis has warned that his union will ballot over a million workers for industrial action if the dispute is not resolved, predicting that walkouts in the autumn would be the biggest since the 1926 General Strike.
Monday’s talks have come too late to avert a strike on Thursday by up to 750,000 teachers, lecturers, civil servants and other public sector workers over job and pay cuts as well as pensions.
Union officials believe that Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, will be keen to take some of the heat out of the dispute after he sparked anger with a recent speech making it clear that the government was pressing ahead with plans to make public sector workers pay more into their pensions and work longer.
“There are signs that the Government wants to repair the damage so they will emphasise that the negotiations will continue into July, while clarifying what Mr Alexander said. But the negotiations are fraught with difficulties,” said one union official ahead of the talks.
Kevin Courtney, deputy general secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), and one of those representing teaching unions at the meeting, said: “What we are looking for is some sign that the Government is prepared to move on the three central issues – paying more, working longer and getting less.”
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, said: “From the outset the Government has said that these talks on pensions reform, which are scheduled to continue into July, are a genuine consultation. The meeting is part of this ongoing series, set up at the request of the TUC. We believe both sides have a responsibility to see the talks through and we would urge public workers not to strike while they are ongoing.”
The government has based its proposals on a report earlier this year by former Labour minister Lord Hutton, which recommended increased payments, a switch from final salary schemes to those based on career-average earnings, and rises in the pension age.
The meeting comes amid reports that ministers are considering moves to impose a minimum threshold on strike ballot turnouts before industrial action can be taken, something the CBI business group has been pressing for.
Source: Press Association