Special Executive Report: January 2012

There was a Special Meeting of the Executive on 12th January to respond to the latest offer from Government in the Pensions Dispute. Christine Blower and Kevin Courtney reported on the developments in the negotiations.


Kevin felt that there had been progress in the negotiatons with government should be pleased by some of the movement made, but we cannot sign up to any agreement that enshrined a pension age at 68 or a 50% increase in contributions. The overall "cost ceiling" for the scheme has not been changed since the November discussions. The concessions over accrual rates and early retirements have been paid for by changing the way career average would be uprated (from average earning increases, to CPI +1.6, which is a significant gamble, especially for younger teachers.)


In December the teacher unions were told that a previously floated proposal to deal with an increasing State Pension Age through a formula of State Pension Age minus 3 was now off the table and that there was no longer any possibility of any move on the cost ceiling. The civil servants then raised another formula - that for the years early retirement before age of 68 would be made a little more affordable by using a 3% early retirement reduction factor for the years from 68 to 65 – instead of the 5% actuarial reduction factor.


On Monday 19th December the unions were presented with a draft “heads of agreement” document – which contained accruals at 1/59 and revalorisation at CPI + 1.6%. During the day the Treasury officials agreed to move the accrual rate slightly to 1/57


Because of the absences of important paragraphs and annexes the NUT negotiators had suggested that there should be no pressure to agree to a document before the imposed deadline of 2pm on Monday 19th. The position the Union took was to reserve its position on the grounds that the document was incomplete as well as unacceptable. The NASUWT, UCU and UCAC also took that position.

The missing annexes that have been now been produced concerned fair deal – and were expected to contain reassurances about access for private school teachers to the scheme. In fact it is silent and contains no reassurances. There is nothing in any of these annexes that address any of the Union’s concerns.

Certain threats have been speculated about not signing up – we might be excluded from further talks on the detail of the scheme – this seems to be happening to the PCS in the civil service talks. It is also speculated that the pre-November 2nd "reference scheme" might be imposed (i.e. with a cost ceiling based on accruals of 1/65 and without the partial protections for scheme members within 10 years of retirement next April.)

The motion agreed by the Executive is reproduced below.

At the time of writing, GMB, Unison, Napo, Prospect, FDA, ATL, CSP and other unions have signed up in principle to the "Heads of Agreement" laid out by Government. NUT, NASUWT, PCS, UCU, UCAC and Unite have reserved position or rejected these. The PoA will not sign up without movement on age. The British Medical Association and the Royal Colleges of Nursing and Midwives are balloting members on the offer.

Resolution of the Executive: January 2012

Following discussions at the Executive Meeting IT WAS AGREED THAT:

• that the Union cannot agree to the “heads of agreement” document because there has been no movement on any of the key areas the union has identified:
  - Normal pension age in the scheme will rise to 68 and even higher. (Teachers who leave before that age will face substantial reductions in their pension entitlements)
  - Contributions will increase by 50%
  - The change to CPI will remove a further 15% of scheme value
  - The introduction of career averaging will lead to further cuts in pension value for a big majority of teachers.
  - There has been no movement on the cost ceiling.
  - It contains no reassurances that teachers in Independent schools will continue to have access to the pension scheme.


• That the Union seek a meeting with Michael Gove and other willing unions in particular to press on the contributions and the age of retirement in particular. (Initial responses suggest that he is not currently willing to meet us outside the official negotiations ! DB)


• That the Union appeal against the high court ruling on CPI/RPI (This has already been actioned)


• That the Union should immediately begin polling members via email on their view of the Government offer – following materials from the Union indicating that the Union’s position is that it does not go anywhere near far enough.


• The Union will write to school reps informing them of the details of the offer – and the other points in these recommendations and urging them to call school meetings to discuss it and ask members to respond to the NUT on-line survey.


• In the light of Michael Gove's statement on 12th January on performance management and its implication for teacher workload, the executive reieterates its decisions taken in relation to action over the changes to the performance management arrangements in England, and recognises the need for further consideration of action over workload.


• The Union will propose to other unions a joint program of publicity and action to continue to campaign for improvements in the pension including by putting forward a petition on the Government website calling for teachers and other public sector workers not to be expected to work to 68 years.


• That the Union will continue to work with the National Pensioners Convention, public sector and private sector unions and through both the Public Sector Liaison Group of the TUC, and TUCG to develop the campaign around fair pensions for all.


• The Union seek urgent talks with other unions that have not signed up to the Heads of Agreement to press the case for joint campaigning and further strike and non-strike action.


• That the the Executive assess all aspects of the campaign at its meeting on 26th January including the possibility of identifying dates for further strike action in conjunction with other unions


• That a divisional secretaries meeting be held on 2nd February to discuss the developments in the pensions campaign and the campaign around performance management and other workload issues, and to take reports from divisions on any meetings that have been held prior to this.

Pensions Campaign: Briefing on current Government proposal

This briefing sets out details of the Government's proposed ‘heads of agreement’ for changes to the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS); the progress of negotiations in December which led to their publication by Government; and the NUT's position on the Government's proposals and future discussions.

Despite our lengthy discussions with the Government over the last few days, the Government's current proposals still do not address most of the NUT's central concerns.

The Government still wants you to work longer, pay more and get less. In particular:

• all teachers would still have to pay an average of 50 per cent more for their pension;


• most teachers would still have to work longer for their pension, with the TPS normal pension age rising to 68 for those aged 33 or under;


• most teachers' pensions would still be lower due to ‘career average’ pensions; and


• all teachers would still receive less in retirement due to the switch of pension indexation to lower CPI inflation instead of RPI inflation.

Under these circumstances, the NUT has not been able to sign up to the Government's proposals. We will keep you fully informed of how the Government’s proposals will impact on your pension entitlements. The NUT Executive will be meeting in January to consider future campaign steps to seek to improve the position.

The Government has not agreed to provide any additional money for the TPS since its improved offer on 2 November or the strike on 30 November. Its proposals remain within the cost ceiling set by the Government on 2 November, requiring contributions of 12.1 per cent from employers and an average 9.6 per cent from employees, compared to the current TPS contributions of 13.25 per cent from employers and 6.4 per cent from employees (excluding the past service element of the employer contribution). The NUT has consistently said that it is very difficult to envisage agreement within this cost ceiling. The Government also decided at a late stage in the negotiations to withdraw a DfE proposal for a normal pension age of 65 for all, a further disruption to negotiations which have always been difficult due to inconsistent and difficult Government negotiating positions.

The core elements of the revised TPS as set out in the Government's proposals are:

• a career average basis for the scheme;


• an increase in the TPS normal pension age (the age at which pensions can be taken in full), so that for future accrual the normal pension age would be equal to state pension age of up to 68 or even higher;


• an accrual rate of 1/57th of pay per year of service;


• accrued benefits for serving members of the scheme to be revalued annually in line with CPI inflation plus 1.6 per cent;


• deferred benefits for those who have left the scheme prior to retirement to be re-valued annually in line with CPI inflation;


• pensions in payment to be increased each year in line with CPI inflation;


• continuation of current provisions on optional lump sum commutation, spouses/partners pensions and death in service and ill-health benefits;


• a limited facility for non-actuarially reduced early retirement with pension reduction factors of 3 per cent per year for a maximum of 3 years for those retiring early, with other early/late retirement factors on an actuarially cost-neutral basis.

Transitional protection would allow all those within 10 years of their normal pension as at 1 April 2012 to remain on their existing pension arrangements until their eventual retirement. This means that anyone on the NPA 60 scheme who is 50 or over as at 1 April 2012 would be unaffected by many changes to the scheme - but they would still pay more for their pension and receive lower pension increases in retirement. Further ‘tapered’ protection would apply to those up to 3.5 years younger than the qualifying age for full protection.

Normal pension ages would rise to 68 for those aged 33 or under in 2015, to 67 for those aged 34 to 42, and 66 for those aged over 42 (although those aged over 50 would be subject to full transitional protection and those aged over 46.5 would receive some limited period of protection).

The Government has also said that it proposes a long term employer ‘cost cap’ which would limit the extent to which the employer contribution could increase if scheme costs rise. Increased longevity costs could therefore lead to higher employee contributions or, of course, an increase in pension age if the state pension age increases.

There will be further discussions on the balance between the accrual rate and the revaluation factor for accrued pensions. The Government says that these discussions must be within the limits of the Government’s cost ceiling. The NUT is clear that discussions must also continue on wider issues, including the extent of any need for change and the NUT view that further money must be found to finance the future TPS and improve on the above proposals.

Discussions will also continue on employee contributions. The Government continues to insist that average employee contributions should rise to 9.6 per cent with ‘some protection’ to be provided for lower paid teachers. The exact nature of that protection and any tiering of contributions would be discussed early in 2012. The Government, however, continues to reject our arguments relating to the affordability of higher contributions and their likely impact on ‘opt-outs’ from the scheme.

Finally, the Government has still to confirm whether or not independent school teachers will still be allowed to be part of the TPS, despite its agreement to continuing the Fair Deal arrangements for public sector workers transferred to private sector employers.

The NUT will continue to represent your interests in the discussions as well as continuing to pursue our legal challenge to the RPI/CPI change. The NUT National Executive will meet in January to take a view on progress in the negotiations so far and next steps in the NUT campaign, including any further proposals on industrial action.

You can see the Heads of Agreement document here. The NUT has not signed this document. The NUT executive will consider the document and further steps to protect teacher pensions in the New Year.

Executive Report: December 2011

The full Executive met on 8th December, at Stoke Rochford Hall.

Amanda Martin, Beth Davies, Anne Lemon and Heather McKenzie were elected to represent the Union at the Women's TUC. The meeting also agreed to nominate vice-President Marilyn Harrop to replace Neil Foden on the board of Stoke Rochford Hall.

General Secretary, Christine Blower reported.

On the 19th November, we had a strong NUT presence at Caught in the Act: a conference against privatisation, alongside organisations such as the Campaign for State Education. Comprehensive Future, Information for School and College Governors, and the Anti-Academies Alliance.

The NUT Leadership Convention at Hamilton House was also very well attended and received.

Christine congratulated the executive on their contributions to the events on the day of Action on 30th November. She has undertaken a large number of school meetings, and found members’ resolve was strong.

After the infamous Jeremy Clarkson comments on the BBC's One Show, Christine and the General Secretaries of a number of other Unions had received written death threats. These, of course, have been reported to the Police, but a further complaint has been made to the BBC pointing out this may well be a direct result of the comments made on that programme.

Christine congratulated the winners of the Steve Sinnott Young Campaigner awards- although this year’s were from Scotland, so wouldn’t have been taught by NUT members (congratulations to our EIS colleagues, then !)

Jerry Glazier, Chair of the Action Committee, reported on the dispute at Langdon School, East Ham, where members have taken strike action over management practices and workload issues. The school has been circumventing the Agency laws by using Supply Agencies to source casual (scab) labour, and then engaging those supply teachers on direct contracts. As this is an LEA school and these contracts are, on paper, with the Local Authority, Newham NUT’s general meeting voted 90-0 in favour of balloting for a Borough wide dispute. Recent informal talks with the Authority may have led to some progress, and members in the school will be consulted this week. If there is no progress, members are going to be taking three days of strike action next week.

Deputy General Secretary, Kevin Courtney reported on the negotiations around the pension scheme:

The extension of a pay freeze (two more years of freeze, followed by two years of 1% ) will mean that teachers salaries will fall significantly in real terms, even before any hit from pension contribution increases. Government plans to get rid of STPCD in next two years and replace with local agreements, and the proposals to end or water down TUPE add to the threats faced by teachers. This is against a background of the economic situation with tax credits reduced, and 300,000 more public sector jobs lost.

David Cameron’s ignorant and ill-informed attack on trade union facility time in Parliament last week also spelt out a clear threat to our lay officers and their ability to represent and support members in difficulty.

The TUC estimates around 500,000 people took part in the various demonstrations on 30th November.Thousands in London, Birmingham and Brighton, and the biggest ever demonstration in Horsham (350, but outside Francis Maude’s office !)

The polls reflecting public opinion on the campaign are mixed, although it is pleasing that 2/3 of women support the strikes, as do 80% of young people. November 30th was the biggest ever strike by women trade unionists in history.

Talks are ongoing with Ministers and the Civil Service, and it is important that the Teachers' side stays united, and that the Government are not allowed to rush us. We are clear that we are willing to meet any time, anywhere and negotiate in detail, but we remain willing and ready to take further action if there is no progress.

The Government is still refusing to carry out a revaluation- the latest line is that to do so would be “too expensive”. Kevin pointed out that Government have all the data to carry this out already, so this is a spurious argument.

Government will also not re-open the issue of the move from RPI to CPI inflation (currently hitting existing as well as future pensioners) . The NUT and partners in the challenge to this ruling (turned down in last month’s judgment) have been granted leave to appeal , on the grounds that there was a dissenting judge on one point. (The NASUWT, PCS etc. challenge was on slightly different points of law- they have not been granted leave to appeal on their points, but may go to court to seek that.)

Kevin reminded us that the campaign is not just about strike action- in particular that it is the threat of strikes backed up by campaigning and other action that is what presses employers into negotiation. The lobbying, campaigning, awareness raising etc. is vital. Also, there is a suggestion that the TUC may call a further national demonstration.

We were asked to send out advice to members about the NASUWT's work-to-rule. The NUT has not balloted on this form of action, but as always members will be expected to not pick up any work laid down by NASUWT colleagues in this dispute.

Helen Andrews, Chair of the Salaries committee presented a proposal to organise a ballot of Sixth Form College staff over their pay and the Government's funding. This was agreed.

The Government is proposing that the post-16 teaching qualification could be formally recognised for teaching in schools. It was agreed that we would add this to the approved qualifications for eligibility for NUT membership, if this takes place.

There was a motion adding a campaigning point that we should seek to build dialogue with the Labour Party on pensions policy. The NUT is not affiliated to any political party, and does not endorse any, but we seek to influence policy making by all organisations. It was noted that while support for our case has been varied from Labour front-benchers, there was solid and visible support on the 30th November by grassroots Labour Party members. I asked if the union could produce model text for motions to local Labour Party branches, and also for other organisations such as Trades Councils.

Internationalising it...

The NUT's International Newsletter, Global Matters, is now available online. This includes information and links to a variety of teaching resources and international campaigs, including:-

Fair's Fair - Playfair 2012: Interactive teaching resources have been produced to coincide with the 2012 Olympics. The cross-curriculum resources, entitled ‘Fair's Fair - Life and Rights in the Global Sports Industry', have been produced as part of the TUC Playfair 2012 project in collaboration with the NUT, ATL, NASUWT and Anti-Slavery International, along with a group of practising teachers.

Global Dimension's relaunched website, which provides a library of global teaching resources. Visit for a free activity kit, an on-line international calendar and to join the Think Global Schools Network

NUT Supports the Robin Hood Tax: The Union has joined the coalition supporting the Robin Hood Tax. The introduction of a small tax on the financial sector would help to fight poverty. You can support the campaign and raise awareness by clicking here

RPI to CPI Challenge fails in Court- right to appeal granted

A high court challenge to the Government’s decision to change the way existing and future pension increases are calculated from RPI inflation to the lower CPI calculation has failed at its first stage.

The NUT joined a raft of other unions in mounting the challenge, claiming that the accrued benefits existing pensioners had built up had been on the basis of the RPI calculation that had previously been used. The NUT challenge was alongside Prospect, GMB, First Division Association, Civil Service Pensioners Alliance, Association of Principal Fire Officers, National Federation of Occupational Pensioners, National Association of Retired Police Officers and the Police Federation. A similar action was brought by the Fire Brigades' Union, NASUWT, Prison Officers Association, Public and Commercial Services union.

Three of the four points of law that were challenged were rejected unanimously by the judges. A fourth was rejected by a 2-1 margin. The Union has been granted the right to appeal.

The BBC reported that: "If someone retired on an annual pension of £10,000 a year - a typical figure for a teacher - then over 20 years the uprating of their pensions by 2% (the Bankof England's CPI target) would see them accrue total pension payments of £245,500.
If a 3.4% RPI figure was used instead - because this would be 1.4 percentage points higher - the pensioner in question would receive £284,923. That's a difference of £39,423 over 20 years.”

NUT General Secretary, Christine Blower commented that: "The NUT took part in this action because the Government’s decision was simply wrong. Cutting pensions to save money at pensioners’ expense is disgraceful and immoral. All three judges agreed that a substantial motivation for the switch to CPI was deficit reduction. It is disappointing that only one judge felt able to say this was wrong. It’s also disappointing that the arguments advanced by the other unions involved were treated so dismissively.
The NUT has obtained permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal. "In the meantime, the Government has deliberately avoided saying whether public sector pensions will be increased even by CPI in 2012. We call on George Osborne to make his position clear immediately and tell pensioners that he is not going to impose even bigger cuts next year.”

Solid support for the strike

Members of the NUT across the country have turned out in force to stand up against attacks on our pensions. In East Sussex more than half of all schools were completely closed, with the majority of others closed to many or most pupils.

Thousands of trade unionists, from NUT, NASUWT, ATL, UCU, Unison, GMB, Unite, PCS and the many smaller craft unions attended rallies across the region. I was privileged to speak at the Eastbourne Rally, which had originally been scheduled to take place at the Unite Eastbourne centre. It became clear by 10.30 that there was no way we could all fit into the room, so an impromptu rally was staged at Eastbourne Bandstand, after which more than 500 people marched into the Town Centre.

The campaign goes on to press the Government to revalue the scheme, and enter into negotiations based on the reality of our pensions which are (as a result of difficult decisions in 2005-6) affordable, sustainable and fair: the costs are on course to fall.

Also, it is absolutely central to the campaign that the Government and the tabloid press are not allowed to label this as a public vs. private sector conflict. The scandal of inadequate pension provision in the private sector also needs to be urgently addresses.

I would urge members once again to read the pamphlet Fair Pensions for All produced by the NUT, PCS, UCU and Unite in conjunction with the National Pensioners Convention. This looks at the whole issue of pension provision, from the State Pension, through the attacks on occupational pensions, and gives a whole wealth of information that will help you when you discuss our campaign- as you must- with friends, family and colleagues.

Visit the NUT Website for the latest on the campaign to defend teachers pensions.

Murdoch censors the TUC !

Yesterday The Sun asked the TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber to write 200 words setting out the case for the day of action. They are not in today’s paper. We publish them here, please spread them:

"This government cancelled the tax on bankers’ bonuses. Instead it has brought in a nurses’, teachers’ and lollipop ladies’ tax.

This is what the increase in pension contributions – around £1,000 a... ...year for a nurse – really means. It is not paying for pensions but going straight to the Treasury to fill the hole left by the bonus tax.

It takes a lot to get Brits to strike. Yet the government has driven millions of its own staff to stop work, including unions that have never gone on strike before such as head-teachers. They are not stupid or manipulated by union leaders, but ordinary decent people doing important jobs taking a stand as a last resort.

We know the strike will cause difficulties today, and we regret that. But it’s proved to be the only language the government understands.

I’ve been leading talks with ministers for months. But they were going nowhere. It’s only when we called a day of action that government started to move. Ministers should listen carefully today to their staff, and get stuck into trying to reach the fair negotiated settlement that unions want."

Fair Pensions for ALL: The facts !

Fair Pensions for All is a pamphlet produced jointly with Unite, PCS, UCU and the National Pensioners Convention. This document dispels the myths about public sector pensions, exposes the scandal of pension provision in the private sector and sets out the compelling case for fair pensions for all.

• The UK currently has the fourth lowest state pension in the EU- only Estonia, Latvia and Cyprus pay less to keep pensioners in security and dignity in old age. The basic state pension is currently £102 a week, worth only 57% of the government’s official weekly pensioner poverty level of £178


• More than two million UK pensioers officially live below the poverty line, with a further million in fuel poverty.


• Just over a decade ago nearly half of all private sector workers were in a workplace pension scheme; today it is only a third.


• However, while pensions have been ripped away from ordinary workers, the directors of large companies continue to net very generous pensions averaging £175,000 per year in retirement. These generous fat cat schemes at the top lapped up the bulk of the £37.6bn in tax relief that private sector pensions get every year.


• The Hutton report “firmly rejected the claim that current public service pensions are ‘gold plated’ …the median payment is around £5,600”. This equates to just over £100 per week in retirement. For a woman worker in local government the average pension is just £2,600.
  

Download the full facts, in the leaflet HERE