Negotiating pensions

The Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) has said that where a collective agreement is imposed on the parties after a formal award of statutory recognition, the requirement to negotiate on pay includes pensions issues.

The CAC says that since pensions are a form of deferred pay they are part of the minimum negotiating package covering pay, hours and holidays. This is a major victory for unions who can use the CAC ruling to insist that pensions and pension provision is recognised as a deferred pay right and that employees want the right to negotiate over it. This opens the door to negotiations on pensions wherever there is a statutory recognition deal. It also means that unions negotiating voluntary recognition should insist on pensions being included.