Council pensions balloting begins

The first ballot papers in the local government pensions dispute were being sent out as Labour Research went to press.

Public services union UNISON said that it was recommending strike action to its 829,000 members covered by the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

General secretary Dave Prentis pointed out that: “The average female LGPS pension is £31 a week. “ He added: “These are no Whitehall fat cats, the majority are women working as dinner ladies, teaching assistants, home carers and nursery nurses.”

The government’s proposed changes to the scheme will mean an end to the “85-rule” for all current members under the age of 53. The rule allows for early retirement on a full pension if the worker’s age plus length of service in the scheme add up to 85.

UNISON has been running a publicity campaign emphasising the fact that local government workers are being singled out for pensions cuts in contrast to other public sector workers.

Meanwhile, the FBU firefighters’ union has called off a ballot for action over pensions while it consults over revised government proposals for the Fire Service scheme.

The government has withdrawn plans to increase the minimum retirement age to 55 but is still planning to increase the pension age for new recruits to 60.