Senior elected representatives of the largest union in the civil service, PCS, today (9th February) unanimously agreed to consult members over continued campaigning against the government's cuts to public sector pensions.The union's national executive council decided to hold a consultative ballot of 250,000 public sector members on the campaign, which could include further co-ordinated strikes and industrial action with other unions in education and the civil service.
The ballot - in which members will be able to vote by post, online or by phone - will be held in late February and early March, with a possible date for another co-ordinated strike on 28 March, followed by a rolling programme of industrial action, joint union protests and political campaigning.
At its previous meeting in January the union's NEC unanimously agreed to reject the government's latest offer on pensions, as it would still force public servants to work longer for a worse pension in retirement, and to pay more in contributions with the money going straight to the Treasury to pay off a budget deficit caused by the failures of bankers and successive governments.
The NEC also confirmed the union will continue to attend talks with the government, after ministers were forced to backtrack over their stated aim of excluding PCS from future discussions.
So far ministers have refused to hold genuine negotiations on the core issues of the pension age, contributions and the inflation indexation that affects the value of pensions.
The government's proposed changes to pensions are being driven by a desire to privatise more public sector jobs, the union says. This was acknowledged by Treasury minister Danny Alexander in December when he told the Commons the plans would make pensions "substantially more affordable to alternative providers".
The union will continue to campaign for fair pensions for public and private sector workers and will seek to work with private sector unions campaigning against cuts to their retirement incomes, such as those representing staff in Unilever.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "We refuse to accept that civil servants, nurses, teachers and council workers should be bullied into paying more and working longer for less, just to pay off debts racked up by greedy bankers who are still pocketing their bonuses.
"We will now consult members on a new programme of action and will be talking to other unions about the next wave of our campaign."
