‘Strong’ support for strike action
TEACHERS and public sector workers from South Holland joined a day of action against Government plans to change their pensions.
Union representatives from the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) said members showed strong support for the strike last Thursday, which closed a number of schools and disrupted classes in others, travelling to Peterborough and Lincoln to attend rallies and protests.
Members of the Public and Community Services union also took action, affecting government offices such as court sessions and JobCentres, although South Holland experienced only minor, if any, problems.
Ken Rustidge, Lincolnshire division secretary for the NUT, said he now hopes the Government will listen to what teachers have to say, describing plans to make them “pay more, work longer, get less” as “almost like torture”.
He said: “Teachers are not unreasonable. It is far better to talk – no-one wants to go through this – and I hope there is a settlement soon.”
And Gary Monger, ATL Lincolnshire executive member, warned other unions could take their own strike action if the Government was unwilling to negotiate over pension changes.
He said: “I think there is likely to be more action but I hope that the Government now sees sense and agrees to negotiate.”
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Friday 25 May 2012
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fenlandier
Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 07:17 PMWhy teachers are striking to protect their pensions Teachers want to share with you the reasons why they took industrial action on pensions on 30th June. Strike action is not a move that any teacher or head teacher takes lightly. Educating our pupils is the most important aspect of our working life. We take action to protect the quality of education in Lincolnshire, because if the Government’s proposals go through teachers will drop out of the pension scheme, potentially making it unviable. Teaching will become a less attractive profession and it will ultimately be pupils who suffer. We realise that as teachers we are not the only people who are facing huge threats to our pensions and jobs. We are also aware that many workers in the private sector do not have adequate pension provision and this is an issue the Government needs to address. But the teachers’ scheme has been well managed over the years, and recently changes were made to take into account the ageing population and to enable costs to reduce over the next 50 years. These reforms are working well. Unfortunately the government refuses to carry out an actuarial review of the scheme, so no-one knows whether the TPS needs additional contributions - or not. If there is a need to contribute more then the 'Cap and Share' scheme ALREADY agreed would ensure that the money was contributed by teachers ONLY - NOT the taxpayer. We need decent pensions for all. Cutting public sector pensions will just make more pensioners poorer and put the cost of supporting them onto the State and taxpayers. We are frustrated that after months of talks with Ministers, the Government looks determined to go ahead with its proposals to make us pay more, work longer and get less for our pensions. While we sincerely regret having to take this action, and any inconvenience caused to parents, pupils and employers, we hope you understand why as a last resort we took action on 30th June.
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