Unions seek gay pension rights

The TUC has called for a change to the law so that gay workers and their partners can have the same rights to a pension as their heterosexual colleagues.

The new sexual orientation regulations allow pension schemes to continue to pay out only to married partners, not same-sex ones. A legal challenge by unions failed earlier this year, but they are to appeal.

The government says this law does not need changing, as the Civil Partnerships Bill - currently going through parliament - will give equal pension rights to gay workers who register their relationships as "civil partnerships".

But, according to the TUC, it will not deliver full pensions equality, as it will not help gay workers who do not register their relationships - and even those who do so will only have shared pension rights from the date they sign the register.