Pension promises and employment rights

Bryn Davies, John Grieve and Ivan Walker, Institute of Employment Rights, 56 pages, £6.50

This timely booklet from the Institute of Employment Rights looks at the complex issue of occupational pensions.

The case for stronger state pension provision is taken as the starting point, with the state second pension providing an important means of linking pension benefits to career earnings.

But the booklet says earnings-related and occupational pensions will continue to play an important role, and puts forward a new model for compulsory "industry" pensions. These would be defined and run within a collective bargaining framework, keeping costs down to an acceptable level while providing the opportunity for workers to negotiate pension contributions from their employers.