02 September 2005
Public sector trades unions held pre-emptive talks this week over the thorny issue of pensions amid growing fears that they could fail to agree reform principles with ministers in advance of more detailed negotiations.
Leading negotiators from the biggest unions met at the Trades Union Congress's headquarters in London on August 31 to prepare for a crucial meeting with the pensions panel of the government-led Public Services Forum on September 21.
The meeting, to be chaired by Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson, represents the final opportunity for ministers and unions to agree a set of principles that will underpin later negotiations over reforms to specific civil service, education, fire service, local government, NHS and police pension schemes.
Previous attempts to agree on methods of easing fast-escalating pension costs have failed.
Ministers want to raise the retirement age across the public sector to 65, in line with the private sphere, but that has been attacked by unions as an unacceptable 'work till you drop' package. Other changes are under consideration, but the retirement age switch remains the biggest sticking point.
The wider PSF, chaired by Cabinet Office minister John Hutton, has also been involved in negotiating a path forward.
A Cabinet Office source warned that it was 'unlikely' that there would be a breakthrough on the principles 'unless the trade unions could accept an eventual move to a retirement age of 65.'
Meanwhile, a report published by Incomes Data Services on August 29 cast doubt on government claims that rising public sector pay rates would offset pension cuts. Although it found higher average earnings growth in the public sector than in the private sphere, the figures have been skewed by the thousands of public staff contracted out to firms.
PFsep2005
