By Richard Johnstone | 19 December 2011
Unions have accused the government of resorting to ‘bullying tactics’ in the dispute over public sector pension reforms after two more government departments published planned staff contribution increases before talks had concluded.
The Department for Education and the Cabinet Office confirmed that teachers and civil servants would pay more. Both schemes will ask those earning more than £15,000 to contribute more to help achievesavings equivalent to 3.2% of contributions by 2014/15.
Unlike the deal offered to NHS workers earlier this month, the two schemes have not raised the threshold for increased contributions after consultation. The Department of Health announced that, for next year, no one earning less than £26,557 would pay more.
However, the DoE and Cabinet Office deals reflect the government’s ‘moregenerous offer' of increased accrual rates.
The Public and Commercial Services union said that the government wants unions to respond to the proposed changes for civil service pensions today. The changes also include a hike in retirement age and a move to a career average defined benefit.
The union says that they would mean a civil servant on an average salary of £23,760 would lose almost £1,500 next year through the increase in contributions and the public sector pay freeze.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said that more industrial action would likely be called in the dispute, following the national day of action on November 30.
He said: ‘We have always been committed to negotiations, so it is totally unacceptable for the government to now try to bully their staff into accepting cuts that will mean the loss of tens of thousands of pounds for many people.’
One union source told Public Finance that there would be further negotiations today to reach a broad agreement for reforms on four public sector schemes, which also includes the Local Government Pension Scheme.
A leading teaching union added that the announcement of the contribution increases ‘in the final hours’ of discussions was ‘unnecessarily provocative’.
Chris Keates, the general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers said: ‘The increase in contributions is not to support the funding of the teachers' or other public service workers' pension schemes, it is simply to raise money for the Exchequer.’
Announcing the proposed contribution increases for the civil service, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, who has been leading the negotiations with the Trades Union Congress to get an overarching deal across all schemes, said: ‘The government is committed to ensuring that civil servants have access to pensions that are amongst the best available. We announced at the 2010 Spending Review that as well as reforming civil service pensions for the long term, the government would increase member contributions to pension schemes from April 2012.
‘We have listened carefully to the concerns raised, but feel the proposal we set out in July is still the fairest approach for civil servants and does most to protect the lowest paid.’
