Government workers may strike on pension plans

Local government workers may strike this autumn, in protest at government plans to raise the retirement age of public sector workers from 60 to 65. The planned increase in pensionable age is part of a strategy to deal with increasing pension costs. It is estimated that there is a £29bn deficit in the local government pension scheme, due partly to the fact that people are living longer and therefore claim pensions over a longer period.

Malcolm Wing, chief negotiation of Unison, the public sector union, said they would “strongly resist” any compulsory increase in the retirement age.

Discussions are taking place between Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, local government employers and unions on how to address the pension shortfall.

The annual meeting of the TUC will take place in Brighton in the week beginning 12 September. Ministers and union negotiators will meet on 21 September, immediately before the Labour Party conference.

According to the Financial Times, Trade Secretary Alan Johnson is prepared to delay the increase in the retirement age, scheduled for 2013, for a “few years”. However, a DTI spokeswoman said that the details had not been decided and there was a “general acceptance by all parties that things have got to change”.

Mr Wing argued that many public sector workers already choose to continue to work after the age of 60 and said that this flexibility should be preserved.