Union turns down local government pensions deal

Britain’s biggest union has turned down the government’s proposed changes to local government pensions.

At a meeting today Unite’s local authority national industrial sector committee rejected the ‘principles document’ put forward by ministers as a basis for a satisfactory outcome.

General Secretary Len McCluskey said: "Unite's local authority representatives have lost trust after Eric Pickles let the government's real agenda out of the bag. The security of our members in retirement is just too important to leave any space for doubt or mistrust, so the union's senior representatives in local government have rejected the government's proposals.

"Our senior representatives believe they have no choice but to reject the 'principles document' after Eric Pickles claimed the unions had made commitments which have not been fully discussed. There now needs to be genuine discussions without arbitary deadlines. Our members need clarity before we can move forward."

The union claimed that a letter sent by the Communities Secretary on 20 December had created a “crisis of confidence”.

Unite said the letter suggested that certain commitments – such as linking the local government retirement age to the state pension age, a career average pension scheme and introducing an employer cost ceiling of 10.9% – had been agreed.

The letter met with an angry response, with unions saying that discussions on these issues were still due to take place.

Unite's health sector national industrial sector committee last week also rejected the government’s plans for the NHS pension scheme.