A breakthrough in the negotiations between the joint unions
and local government employers at a UK level has lead to the
suspension of the UK-wide days of action on the 25-27 April,
including the Scottish Day of Action on 26 April.
UNISON's Industrial Action committee agreed to suspend the
strike action because the joint union/LGA statement provides
a framework for detailed negotiations on the future of the local
government pension scheme and full protection for existing scheme
members.
Separate discussions are taking place in Scotland with the
Scottish Executive, the SPPA and CoSLA to build on this UK position
and resolve the matter here. Further information should be available
at the branches meeting on the 24 April.
Matt Smith, UNISON's Scottish Secretary said; "We welcome
the shift in the employer's position, and have suspended action
to allow progress in the talks in England, Scotland and Northern
Ireland. There is a lot of detailed work and negotiations to
be done over the coming weeks."
"The show of solidarity in the action on March 28 and
the likelihood of similar support in the forthcoming action
on 26 April has achieved this breakthrough. We trust that employers
and government throughout the UK will use this time to establish
protection for LGPS members that mirrors that received by other
public sector workers.”
12 April 2006
Industrial action on pensions suspended
UNISON today agreed to recommend suspending planned industrial
action over pensions after the joint unions agreed a basis for
further talks with employers. The formal decision to suspend
further industrial action will be taken by the industrial action
committee on Thursday, but representatives of all service groups
have agreed the move.
General secretary Dave Prentis said: "The joint union/LGA
statement is a positive step and that is why we have decided
to suspend our planned strike action. It provides a framework
to enable negotiations to take place on the future of the local
government pension scheme and on protection arrangements. There
is still a great deal of work to do in the detailed negotiations
over these complex issues in a short time frame and we will
be concentrating all our efforts on achieving a satisfactory
conclusion. "
The move follows a TUC-brokered joint statement with the Local
Government Association which commits both sides to: discussing
proper protection for current members of the LGPS pension scheme
if the Rule of 85 were to be abolished making 50% of the savings
available to pay for protections, and of savings from changes
to the commutation arrangements agreeing that changes in future
should be made by agreement where possible negotiating a fair
new-look scheme for the future.
The joint statement followed successful one-day national strike
action on 28 March.
Read the full joint statement
More Scottish news to follow on 13 April.
