arsenalbob wrote:i've read through the agreement twice and all i can see regarding the pensions is that both sides have agreed to a consultation period and after that a ballot put to all members concerned. i can't see anywhere that actual changes have already been agreed, or has jafferpants got some sort of reliable crystal ball
The union position for which briefings are to be held tomorrow is:
The pension issue was always going to be difficult. It would have been an abdication of responsibility for the union to have sought to stand aside from the difficult decisions which need to be taken to ensure the ongoing viability of both the scheme and the business, but an acknowledgment that £850 million per annum cost is unsustainable leads inevitably to the conclusion that either employee contributions must rise or benefits reduce or both.
What we have achieved:
- The union has been completely successful in the key aim of fully protecting past service benefits.
- The proposal offers a way of considerably mitigating the effect of moving the normal retirement age to 65. Members will have various options, including taking full pension on service accrued before 1st April 2010 whilst continuing to contribute. The right to retire at 60 is retained.
- The Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) scheme going forward remains a good defined benefit pension scheme and the issue of indexation will become part of the unions bargaining agenda. Existing scheme benefits and accrual rates remain unchanged.
- There is an opportunity to negotiate on the form, governance, and contribution rate of a DC scheme and attempt to create a route into a final salary scheme for new starters.
Taken together this represents a significant major improvement for the union and its members in comparison to both the leaked company proposal of July 2007 and the proposal previously linked to the pay offer. There is no doubt that this could not have been achieved without the determination and sacrifice of CWU members.
It certainly means a lot to those who are in the scheme now and new starters. The net result will be a saving to RM of 1.6Billion and that is going to come out of the pension fund. Basically the deal is the same as the managers got but without the incentive of pensionable bonuses. The fact that previous contributions have been saved is a crock really because legally they cannot be touched.