DAY OF ACTION TO DEFEND PENSIONS : 30 NOVEMBER 2011

Circular No.: 11-154/S&C Date: 4 November 2011 To: Secretaries of Divisions and Local Associations – FOR INFORMATION	NATIONAL UNION OF TEACHERS HEADQUARTERS   Hamilton House  Mabledon Place  London  WC1H 9BD Telephone 020 7388 6191  Fax 020 7387 8458 www.teachers.org.uk   General Secretary Christine Blower Deputy General Secretary Kevin Courtney

 

 

 

 

Dear Colleague

 

DAY OF ACTION TO DEFEND PENSIONS : 30 NOVEMBER 2011

 

We welcome Unison’s ballot result, announced yesterday, in which 76 per cent who returned a ballot paper in the local government sector voted in favour of strike action in defence of public sector pensions. 

 

The EIS has just announced that an overwhelming 82.2 per cent of members on a 54.2 per cent turnout have voted in favour of action in defence of pensions and the wider proposed changes to pay and conditions for Scottish teachers.

 

The NAHT closes their ballot on 9 November; UNITE and GMB are due to announce their results on 16 November; NASUWT will announce their ballot result on 18 November.

 

So, teachers in NUT, ATL, NASUWT, NAHT and UCAC in Wales; support staff in Unison, Unite and GMB; and civil servants and NHS staff in a whole range of unions all plan to join the day of action on 30 November 2011.

 

Government Statement: 2 November 2011

 

The strike in schools and colleges by NUT, ATL and UCU members on 30 June was a huge success.  It exposed the confusion and lack of justification on the part of Government in attempting to worsen pension provision for teachers.  It helped to convince other unions' members that they should take action too.  It certainly contributed to the Government’s decision to make a revised offer to public sector unions on Wednesday, 2 November.  As you all know, we do not consider that this offer secures our members’ pensions for the future so the action will go ahead on 30 November.

 

Who can take action on 30 November?

 

The ballot of NUT members in the TPS held in the summer term is still active and legally in force because we balloted members for ‘discontinuous strike action’ (i.e., a series of separate occasions of strike action).  This means that the NUT Executive can call further action if it believes it will further the dispute and it has the support of members.  Members who have joined the Union since the ballot can also take action on 30 November if they are in an eligible workplace. 

 

NUT members in the Local Government Pension Scheme are currently being balloted on a timetable that will allow them to take part in the strike action on 30 November (please see Circular 11-141/S&C for more information on the ballot).

 

Organising for the Day of Action

 

A great deal of organising effort will be necessary to build support for the day of action on 30 November.  Divisions will be holding representatives’ briefings this week and next and school representatives will be contacted and encouraged to attend their local meetings.

 

To support you in your local efforts to garner support we have posted updated ‘frequently asked questions’ for school representatives and members on the website.

 

A School Representatives’ Bulletin is in production and will arrive in schools on 11 November; with a separate edition for members in Wales.

 

An edition of NUT News is due to arrive in schools this week with the message – ‘Fantastic Lobby on 26 October – now strike on 30 November’.

 

Remember to publicise the NUT pension calculator, which has been updated for September 2011 and is now being updated further.  The calculator can be accessed at: www.teachers.org.uk/pensionscalc.

 

The TUC is organising a series of ‘pensions Saturdays’ in town centres across England and Wales running up to the action on 30 November.  Contact your TUC regional office and find out what is happening in your area.  Local officers are encouraged to set up stalls and take along copies of the ‘fair pensions’ petition and to seek local media coverage where possible. 

 

Thank you for your continued hard work and support for this vitally important campaign to defend our members’ pensions.

 

Yours sincerely

 

CHRISTINE BLOWER                                             KEVIN COURTNEY

General Secretary                                                   Deputy General Secretary

 

 

RBX

Bulletin 17 on teachers' pensions from the LGA

Wednesday, 2 November 2011       Teachers and education guidance   Bulletin 17 on teachers' pensions     Bulletin 17 on teachers' pensions is available to download. Bulletin 17 includes an update on proposed increases to teachers’ pensions contribution rates, the DfE consultation on the TPS and workplace pension reforms, charging for TP administration to schools with outsourced payroll providers and advice for employers regarding actuarially reduced benefits, age retirement, phased retirement and re-employment and more.

 

Contact us   Local Government House Smith Square London, SW1P 3HZ Email: info@local.gov.uk Telephone: 020 7664 3000 Fax: 020 7664 3030

Finance for the Future - Making Pensions Work

Please see attached document that is a summary of research into private pensions revealing that every penny paid out is covered by tax breaks.

This makes some interesting reading about private pensions – taxpayer money covering the private pension pay outs!  Perhaps our members would be interested, too!

http://www.financeforthefuture.com/MakingPensionsWork.pdf

Finance for the Future is a partnership between chartered accountant Richard Murphy and
environmentalist Colin Hines. Richard Murphy is also the director of Tax Research UK and founder of the Tax Justice Network and a regular blogger at www.taxresearch.org.uk/blog. Colin Hines is the creator and convener of the Green New Deal group.

What appears below is taken from the executive summary of the briefing that was issued in October 2010 and endorsed by the TUC. Finance for the research to produce the briefing came from the Network for Social Change and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, but the report remains the sole responsibility of Finance for the Future LLP.

Using data for the most recent year available – 2007/08 – it shows that total pensions paid in that
year amounted to £117.6 billion. Of this sum £57.6 billion was state old aged pensions, £25 billion
was state employment related pensions paid to former civil servants and other former public
employees and £35 billion was private sector pension payments.

In the same year the total cost of subsidies to the private UK pension industry through tax and
national insurance reliefs on contributions made and from the tax exemption of income of pension
funds amounted to £37.6 billion. The result was that, albeit indirectly, the entire cost of private
sector pensions paid in 2007/08 was covered by tax reliefs given to the private sector pension funds
that paid them. To put it another way, every single penny of the cost of UK pension payments in
2007/08 was in effect paid by the UK government.

A pension subsidy of about £38 billion represents approximately 25% of the UK government’s
current annual fiscal deficit, 7% of government income and 5.5% of government spending if
repeated in the current financial year. To put it in context, this subsidy for private pensions is almost
exactly the same as the current UK defence budget. This makes the subsidy given to our pension
industry one of the biggest items of state spending in the UK. And yet, to date, no one has asked if it
is justified, or well spent, or should continue. In an environment where cuts are being threatened for
almost all state spending this is an extraordinary situation.

It is all the more surprising when it is realised that from 1998/99 to 2008/09 pension subsidies to the
UK private pension sector cost the UK government £300 billion. To put this in context, in March
2009 total UK government borrowing was £617 billion. In other words, almost half of all UK
government debt at the end of 2008/09 had arisen solely because of subsidies given to private
pensions over the previous decade. Understanding this changes the deficit debate and yet it has
entirely avoided discussion to date.

Pension fund performance over the last decade has a been a history of almost perpetual loss making
despite the enormous subsidies that pension fund tax relief has provided to the City of London and
stock markets, all of which they have frittered away. To date pension funds have been an almost perfect example of what Keynes described as ‘the paradox of thrift’ – saving that sucked demand and well being out of the economy. We need something very different now. We need pension funds that can build economic well being for the present and the future.

Investment in local authority bonds for local regeneration, or in bonds or shares issued by a new Green Investment Bank and in hypothecated bonds e.g. to provide alternative funding to replace the inefficiently expensive Private Finance Initiative for funding public sector infrastructure projects would have prevented those losses because all of these would have paid positive returns to pension fund investors. It is for exactly this reason that we recommend that such assets be the basis for any new state pension fund in the future. The impact of such proposals would be significant. At least £20 billion a year would be released into the UK economy for new investment.

SUFFOLK NUT OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

SUFFOLK NUT OCTOBER NEWSLETTER CLICK HERE

THE ROBIN HOOD TAX AT THE G20

Circular No.: 11-148/E&E Date: 27 October 2011 To: Secretaries of Divisions and Local Associations – FOR ACTION	NATIONAL UNION OF TEACHERS HEADQUARTERS Hamilton House Mabledon Place London WC1H 9BD Telephone 020 7388 6191 Fax 020 7387 8458 www.teachers.org.uk General Secretary Christine Blower Deputy General Secretary Kevin Courtney

Dear Colleague

THE ROBIN HOOD TAX AT THE G20

This circular urges associations and divisions to support the Robin Hood Tax campaign.

At the G20 summit this November, world leaders have a chance to do something good for the world by introducing a Robin Hood Tax.

It would help stop the cuts, tackle climate change and global poverty and help control the casino banking that got us into this mess.

Lots of governments are already on board. To date, our own government has been lukewarm in public, while opposing it behind closed doors.

But cracks are beginning to show and if enough of us raise our voices now we can make a difference.

Tell David Cameron to ignore the banking lobby and take a stand at the G20 that will be admired worldwide. E-mail the Prime Minister now and urge him to put the people before the banks.

Divisions and associations are also asked to bring this campaign to the attention of members locally.

Yours sincerely

CHRISTINE BLOWER KEVIN COURTNEY

General Secretary Deputy General Secretary

Help us make 30 November a success

	Dear colleague Thank you for your continued hard work on the pensions campaign. Our joint union lobby of Parliament on 26 October was a huge success. Reps from more than 2,000 schools saw MPs and a petition of over 150,000 signatures was handed in to Government. We now need to prepare to take strike action on 30 November. Local meetings for school representatives have been arranged by NUT associations to start planning for 30 November. It is important that you make every effort to attend your local meeting so as to find out the latest information on negotiations with the Government and the campaign more generally. These meetings will also allow you to share information and discuss practical ideas for building towards strike action with colleagues. To find out where your nearest meeting will be taking place visit www.teachers.org.uk/pensions where you will also find other campaign materials and updates. You can also help to build the campaign by: Arranging a school meeting to discuss 30 November Recruiting any teachers not in a union to the NUT Talking to representatives of sister trade unions about 30 November Talking to your head teacher about their intentions for 30 November Keep up-to-date with developments on pensions and other educational issues by following us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NUTonline Once again, thank you for your continued support with this vital campaign. With best wishes CHRISTINE BLOWER NUT GENERAL SECRETARY