On Thursday 14th February Philip Dunne, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology visited my workplace, the Defence Support Group (DSG), to hand out campaign medals to workers who have served in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, in recognition of the pivotal support they provided to the front line troops.

Ironically Philip Dunne is the Minister that is currently responsible for approving the potential sale of DSG. The sale was announced in October 2010 as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). If  it goes ahead it could mean that the people he was presenting medals to will be made redundant in the near future.

Members of staff joined together during their lunch break for an impromptu demonstration on the road outside their workplace. Their message was that selling off DSG to the private sector is the wrong decision. They hope their message would be heard and understood by the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology. Other workers driving past the demonstration on their way to and from work, showed their support by tooting their horns and waving.

• More detail on the event can be found here.
• More detail on the campaign can be found here.

The lack of proper negotiation led to the action that was taken by public sector workers today.

I found it quite infuriating to hear less than honest words spoken in the House today.

Below is an email sent from an MP to a PCS member last week.  Highlighted in red are some key points:

Thank you for your email about the strikes next week. I have to be in Westminster next Wednesday, however my position is clear and this is what I am saying to anyone who contacts me.

The government must bear much of the responsibility for what is happening now because it jumped the gun and has, in effect, imposed a 3% tax on public sector workers, before John Hutton published his final report on public sector pensions, and then refused to negotiate on this crucial issue. This surcharge has nothing to do with the sustainability of public sector pensions and will hit public sector workers on low incomes hard.

It increasingly seems that the government is happy to see a disruptive strike. According to the Daily Telegraph, David Cameron has privately said that he is ‘delighted’ that the unions have walked into his ‘trap’. This is no way to approach the long term needs of the country and workers who believed they had a deal on their pensions when they set out on a public service career.. The constant mantra about “gold plated” pensions is quite frankly insulting. The average pension paid to pensioner members is around £7,800 per year, while the median payment is around £5,600. Half of women public service pensioners get less than £4,000 a year.

If more people opt out of occupational schemes because they cannot afford to pay this increase, it could end up costing the tax payer more in the future as more people rely on means tested benefits. The imposition of a 3% surcharge for all employees is not only unfair in the short term but also risks the sustainability of public sector pension schemes in the long term.

The government announced a three pence in the pound increase in contributions in the October Spending Review, long before Lord Hutton had published his final report. The 3 pence in the pound increase has nothing to do with the wider reform agenda outlined by Hutton. It is a measure which is simply geared towards paying down the deficit by squeezing public sector workers. The increase was imposed without any negotiation with public sector unions. This increase amounts to a 3p in the pound increase in tax for public sector workers, at a time when they are already facing a pay freeze, higher inflation partly driven by the government’s VAT increase, not to mention the biggest squeeze in living standards in a generation.

I know that people who rely on services don’t want to see a strike: from parents who will have to take a day off work to those who rely on home help. And public sector workers— nursing assistants, teachers and dinner ladies—also care too much about the people they serve day in day out to consider action as anything other than a last resort.

Rather than telling hundreds of thousands of low paid, part-time working men and women who are set to be much worse off that they should not strike, David Cameron should be taking responsibility and trying to negotiate a deal that’s fair to public sector workers and taxpayers alike. That is what I want to see and that is why I support the action that union members are taking..

My recent series of posts on pensions only skim the surface of why so many ordinary people decided to take strike action today.

Myth # 6. The Private Sector props up the Public Sector

REALITY. The UK economy depends on a thriving public sector as well as private sector

What are the Facts?

It is not a one-way street, but a complex relationship. Public sector workers and employers pay for the vast majority of pensions in payment through contributions. But without an effective public sector, the private sector would be far less productive. It directly benefits from the public sector through transport and information infrastructure and an educated workforce, whose social, health and welfare needs are attended to by the public sector. Third, it is also true that all workers pay for everyone’s retirement income in one way or another. Private sector pensions are paid for through the price of goods and services, much like tax levels include the cost of public sector pension provision.

In short, the private sector could not function without the public sector and vice versa. The public sector contributes significantly to GDP and it is entirely unfair to suggest that the public sector is any way a drain on the private sector.

Public sector pension schemes also play an important economic role in other ways. For example, funded public pension funds provide billions of pounds worth of investment in the UK economy. Pensions are also an important element of the remuneration package and an essential recruitment and retention tool to attract people to deliver our vital public services. In addition, they play an important role in ensuring individuals have a reasonable income in retirement. They are an effective way of encouraging saving for retirement among a large part of the workforce, at a time of great turbulence and uncertainty.

Conclusion

The recent attacks on public sector pensions have used the economic crisis as excuse to attack pensions. The key issue about pensions should be ensuring every worker has access to a decent pension scheme; about levelling up not down. Public sector pension schemes are good quality and this should be applauded. The UK need good pensions for all, not lower pensions and poverty in old age for all. Society depends on public services, delivered by public servants who deserve decent pay and pensions.

Index – Media myths about civil and public services.

MYTH #5. It is unfair that public sector workers benefit from “gold plated” pensions

REALITY. The private sector is the real culprit for unfairness

What are the Facts?

The real inequality exists in the private sector, where highly paid executives receive the real gold-plated pensions. The TUC’s 2008 Pensions Watch study of 346 directors from 102 of the UK’s top companies found that they are set to earn a yearly pension of £201,700³. This is 25 times the average workplace pension that ordinary workers receive (£8,100). The study also revealed that the most senior directors of these firms had average pension funds of £5.2m, with an annual pension forecast of £333,400. In reality, most directors of the UKs largest private sector companies can look forward to retiring on a full pension at age 60, accrued on generous terms in a final salary scheme.

Index – Media myths about civil and public services.

MYTH # 4. Most public sector workers retire at 60 on two thirds of their final salary

REALITY: The majority of workers joining public sector pension schemes will retire and claim their pension at the age of 65.

What are the Facts?

Many reports about pensions would lead you to believe that most public sector workers retire at the age of 60 on two-thirds salary, but in fact this only applies to the very few people who work in public service for forty years or more. The pension age for many public sector workers has always been 65 and this now applies to most new joiners.

The average pension in Local Government is around just £4,000 per year, and just £2,000 for women while in the Civil Service the average is £6,500. The average pension for a female NHS worker is £5,000 but the median pension for women is much less. In fact half of all women pensioners who have worked in the NHS get a pension of less than £3,500 per year.

Index – Media myths about civil and public services.