Date Tues 19 July 2011

UNISON calls in troops for pensions' fight-back

More than 200 senior activists and UNISON staff from across the UK, will gather in London today (19 July), to draw up a fighting strategy for the next stage in the union’s pension campaign.

The summit is a rallying cry to the troops and an opportunity to devise a strong and effective fight-back, should the current talks with the Government fail.

Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, said: “We face an unprecedented attack on the pensions of public service workers. We are still negotiating with the Government and hoping for the best, but it would be foolish not to plan for the worse.

“We are at a cross-roads in the talks. The time is right to bring in senior activists and staff from every sector and from across the whole of the UK, to plan for the difficult months ahead. We will be organising a strong and effective fight-back and making sure that our members are ready for action.

“We are keying in to the anger that members across the country are feeling. It cannot be right to ask workers to pay more, work longer for a worse pension deal. Any action will have to be carefully co-ordinated with other unions and we will look at a ‘smart strike strategy’ aimed at keeping the action rolling.”

Over the last few months the union has been updating its membership records to ensure that it doesn’t fall foul of trade union laws, if it needs to move towards a ballot for industrial action at short notice.

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