ALL OUT for Public Service Pensions: June 30th

Members of the National Union of Teachers, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the University and Colleges Union and the Public and Commercial Services Union will be taking strike action over attacks on their pension schemes on 30th June.

Members are angry at proposals that would make members work longer, pay more and get less for their pensions. The Government is plucking figures from the sky, yet have consistently refused to undertake a valuation of the pension funds (overdue by more than a year) to prove whether or not the schemes, which members pay handsomely for, are sustainable. We firmly believe that such a valuation would show that they ARE.

The Government has made much of its willingness to "negotiate", but the negotiations have been next to meaningless. They refuse to discuss:

The 50% increase in members' contributions to the schemes (even though the unions had already agreed to an increase if the Government could demonstrate that this was necessary to make the scheme sustainable- and proved by a revaluation)

The increase in retirement age from 60 or 65 (depending on the schemes) to 68 years old.

The move to a "career average" scheme- hitting women members hardest, who often secure their promotion later in their career becauseof family commitments (also with the threat of changing the accrual rate, so you would have to work 50 years, rather than the current 40 or 30, to get your full pension)

The imposed change in the calculation of inflation to determine annual increases in pensions from RPI to the lower CPI rate. This has been imposed on existing pensioners, despite the legal right not to have their pensions retrospectively changed.

In Eastbourne the action is going to be strongly supported. We know already that Bishop Bell, Eastbourne Academy, Hazel Court, Ocklynge, Bourne, West Rise, Langney, and Pevensey and Westham schools will be shut, with Ratton, Willingdon, The Lindfield, Cavendish, Shinewater and others opening only to a fraction of the students.

Sussex Downs College and the University of Brighton will be signifiacntly affected, and PCS members at the Department for Work and Pensions, the Tax office and the Driving Standards Agency will also be taking action.

Other unions including the NASUWT, Unison, GMB and the non-TUC National Association of Head Teachers are considering or have announced balloting for action in the Autumn.

Members of these Unions and other supporters are encouraged to attend the march and rally in Brighton, meeting at The Level for 10.30am, or the Hastings Rally at the White Rock Theatre also at 10.30am (Trades Council Secretary Dave Brinson and SERTUC Regional Secretary Megan Dobney will be speaking at the Hastings event.)

For more information on the Pensions Campaign, visit the NUT Website, the ATL website, the UCU website or the PCS website.

Save the NHS: Petition handed in to Stephen Lloyd MP

Over 400,000 people signed the petition against the coalition's NHS "reforms" organised by the 38 Degrees campaigning group.

Trades Council secretary Dave Brinson joined local organiser Lucette Davies and other local campaigners to present the Eastbourne section of the petition to Stephen Lloyd MP on Saturday 25th June.

Dave says: "Hundreds of thousands of trade unionists, patients and health professionals have
made their dismay at the coalition's cuts and privatisation agenda for the NHS loudly and clearly heard. The coalition are now making a big play that they have 'listened': let's wait and see whether their actions reflect their warm words !"

Support Unite members in Southampton

Unite and Unison members at Tory-controlled Southampton City Council need your help.

4,300 workers have been told they will be sacked on July 11th unless they take a pay cut and sign inferior contracts. Council leader, Royston Smith, has refused to negotiate with the unions, Unite and Unison, and has instead tried to impose cuts on workers.

The unions proposed wage freezes in return for security for jobs and services - but Royston Smith rejected these out of hand. This forced the workers into taking industrial action. All they want is a fairer way forward. They now need your support.

It is essential that they win their dispute. If the Tory leadership at Southampton gets away with imposing pay cuts without negotiating then other councils, and indeed private sector employers, will follow suit.

Southampton workers are taking a stand but they urgently need your support.



Please help by making a donation to the strike fund. Your contributions, however small, can help: * TGWU 2/8 Strike Fund, Unity Trust Bank, Ac No: 20185358, Sort Code: 08-60-01
*NB: this is a Unite fund. A long-standing TGWU account is being used to ensure there is no delay in supporting the workers.

Lobby Stephen Lloyd to save the NHS !

Local residents will be handing a petition organised by 38 Degrees to our MP, Stephen Lloyd, on Saturday 25th June, at his constituency office, 100 Seaside Road at 3.30pm. For full details and to sign up, please click here to visit the 38 Degrees website.

After an overwhelming response from 38 Degrees members asking for the campaign to protect the NHS to continue, hundreds of thousands have signed the petition, and people all over the country are writing to their MPs to ask them to save the NHS. Over the past months, 38 Degrees members across the country have been handing in the 250,000 strong Save our NHS petition to MPs on the scrutiny committee for the NHS Health Reform Bill – the committee which has been examining the government’s NHS plans.

If you haven’t already, you can sign the petition here

Across the country 38 Degrees members wanted to show their MPs that they really do care about the NHS in their MP’s local constituency surgery or coffee morning by handing in the petition. Now, people are writing to ask their MP’s what they think about the proposed changes to the NHS. If you want to send a letter to your local MP to see if they are supporting the Bill, you can use the link to: Tell your MP to Protect the NHS here.