Auriel Downs
Bromley NUT Secretary
URGENT: PLEASE CHECK THE DETAILS THE UNION HOLDS FOR YOU ARE CORRECT. IF YOU THINK THEY ARE INCORRECT PLEASE CONTACT THE RECORD AND SUBSCRIPTIONS HOTLINE ON 0845 300 1666
PENSIONS UPDATE - STRIKE CALLED FOR MARCH 28th - Rally details below
The NUT is calling a one day regional strike in London on 28 March as the next step in the pensions campaign. We welcome the decision of the University and College Union (UCU) to do the same.
Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:
“The Government is well aware that teachers do not accept the changes that they propose to make to our pensions. The vast majority of teaching unions have not signed up to the latest pension proposals which still mean that teachers will have to pay much more, work much longer and get much less in retirement.
“The NUT believes it is essential that the teaching profession stands united on this issue. Working and taking action together in June and November 2011 brought some concessions from Government, but they do not go far enough. We have no evidence whatsoever that teachers’ pensions are unaffordable.
“The Government has consistently refused to carry out the long overdue valuation of the scheme, and the Hutton Report showed that the costs of public sector pensions are falling. Teachers cannot be expected to just accept Government proposals to cut pensions without a justifiable reason.
“We will be writing to the other teaching unions to look at the ways we can work together to defend the profession and our pensions, and will be discussing how to take the campaign forward at the NUT Annual Conference this Easter.”
Details of the march and rally will be added to the website once they have been confirmed.
PENSIONS UPDATE - Saturday 11th February
Member Survey to be carried out.
A survey of members will be carried out shortly. All members will recieve the survey at their home address. Bromley NUT is urging you to back the unions campaign and support further industrial action on pensions. A pensions meeting will take place at the Bird in Hand pub, Gravel Road, Bromley on March 1st 4:30pm for 5pm start. Free food and drink is available. Please see the meetings and events page of this website for directions and a map of how to get there.
ePetition
Please sign the ePetiton on the Governemnt's petition website. The petition has been organised by the NUT and NASUWT. If 100,000 people or mroe sign the petition the government will be forced to debate the pensions issue once again in parliment.
Members support union position on TPS.
93% of NUT members agree that the NUT is right not to sign up to the Government's proposals to cut teachers' pensions and agree that the NUT must continue to seek further improvements.
In a survey of over 11,000 NUT members, 90% agreed that teachers should not have to work until they are 68 for a full pension. Teachers over 50, who are best aware of the pressures of teaching for older teachers, agree even more strongly.
90% believed that teachers should not be made to pay an average 50% extra for their pensions, especially at a time of a pay freeze.
Almost 90% think that their pensions should be increased in line with RPI inflation and that indexation should not be cut to the lower CPI inflation rate.
Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:
“This survey shows that NUT members do not accept the Government's arguments for reducing teachers’ pensions. They do not accept this race to the bottom, cutting public sector pensions in the same way as private sector pensions have already been cut.
“The NUT will continue to campaign for teachers’ pensions and a Fair Pension for All."
PENSIONS UPDATE - Sunday 4th December
A video of Bromley NUT members on the march in London.
PENSIONS UPDATE - Saturday 3rd September
Bromley NUT members took part in the largest strike for a generation on Wednesday. Over 80% of Bromley schools were affected with far more completely closed than on June 30th. The government must now act if they are to avoid more strikes in the Spring term.
Deputy General Secretary of the NUT, Kevin Courtney, addressed a meeting of teachers in Leicestershire and made it clear why we had to take action and why we may have to take action again in the future.
Bromley NUT would like to thank you for taking action to protect your pension on Wednesday.
PENSIONS UPDATE - Monday 28th November
The BBC has conducted a poll which shows strong support for the public sector strikes over pensions. Further information can be found by following the link.
PENSIONS UPDATE - Thursday 24th November
Please Strike on November 30th
There will be a march and rally on Wednesday 30th November 2011 from Lincoln Inn Fields to Victoria Embankment. We hope as many Bromley NUT members as possible can join the march. The Bromley NUT banner will be outside Holborn Underground Station from 11am and will move into Lincoln Inn Fields at 11:30am. If you arrive later then please try to find us - the banner is bright yellow.
The government has sent out an email today about the Teachers' Pension Scheme. Please send a response to Nick Gibb. A template is provided below.
Mr Nick Gibb MP
House of Commons
London SW1 1AA
Changes to the Teacher Pension Scheme
Dear Mr Gibb,
Thank you for your correspondence, the contents of which are noted.
I note that the Department’s Pensions Calculator does not make a comparison with the pension I would get under the current scheme; my union’s calculator does exactly this and I am shocked by how much I stand to lose.
Research carried out by my union shows that, since the Teacher Pension Scheme was established in 1923, more money has been paid into it than has been paid out. The excess figure is more than £46bn.
This would seem to show that our pension scheme is affordable and sustainable in the long-term, especially as the National Audit Office tells me the costs are falling as planned.
Having made these points, I will let you have my answer in full on Wednesday November 30th.
With best wishes,
PENSIONS UPDATE - 18th November
The union is once again asking teachers to take strike action on November 30th. The government's latest offer still sees teachers paying more, getting less and working longer. It has also became clear that since the Teachers' Pension Scheme began £46 BILLION more has been paid in than paid out. The government must be made to think again and a resounding strike will help to do so. Over 80% of Bromley schools were either closed or partially closed in June. Please strike again.
For further information please attend the Bromley NUT Pensions Meeting on November 24th at The Bird in Hand pub. Please follow the meetings and events link to find directions.
The Government's new pensions offer – 2 November 2011
The Government has said today that it has made an improved offer on public sector pensions to unions. What's the truth? Click here to find out.
The vote of NUT members in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme in June covers all members in the schools balloted to take action on 30 November. WE DO NOT NEED TO BALLOT AGAIN TO STRIKE ON 30 NOVEMBER. Members in the Local Government Pension Scheme are also currently being balloted for action on the same day.
Pensions - Mass Lobby on October 26th
Thousands of teachers, lecturers and support staff visited Parliament today (Wednesday, 26 October) to lobby their MPs about pension cuts in the education sector.
Over 150,000 petition signatures were handed to the government.
Staff from the maintained, academy and independent sectors in England and Wales as well as from colleges and post-92 universities, lobbied their MPs and handed in petitions from their workplaces.
NUT and ATL took joint strike action to save our pensions on June 30th.
Bromley NUT members gave the government a resounding NO! message to unfair changes to our pension scheme on June 30th. 80% of all Bromley schools were closed or partially closed. With such a strong show of support for the NUT ATL PCS UCU joint action the government must start to negotiate seriously or they will face the possibility of more strike action in the future.
During the day 20,000 teachers marched through central London and a video of the event can be found below. As the day progressed it was interesting to hear the Government's claims that the Teachers' Pension Scheme being unaffordable collapsed with the Today program's Evan Davis making the point that nowhere in Lord Hutton's report does he say that public sector pensions are unaffordable. In fact, exactly the reverse is happening with public sector pension costs falling by £67 BILLION in the next 50 years.
Hear Today interview here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9525000/9525635.stm
The Bromley NUT committee would like to thank all NUT members who took strike action on Thursday. The government must think again to make us work longer, pay more and get less. They must value the Teachers' Pension Scheme so any changes can be negotiated fairly or they face the threat of industrial action again.
Further pension resources can be found in the campaign section of the website.
