Pensions: Defending The Past Protecting The Future. Vote YES.

You would think, reading some of the press, that public sector pensions are something new. It’s as if the government woke up one day and discovered, to their horror, that public sector workers have a pension when they retire! They are not new.

The first recorded public pension was for naval officers in 1670. Less than thirty years after Oliver Cromwell put Charles 1 under the chopper (after he was found guilty of treason), officers in the navy received a pension when they retired. That was 341 years ago.

From the 17th Century naval officer pensions the first Superannuated Fund for public sector workers was in 1712. This was paid to Customs Officers. That was 299 years ago.

The British Civil Service Pension Scheme first started in 1810. That was 201 years ago.

Pensions and schemes have changed over the years obviously, but the principle of a decent pension to give dignity after a life of work shouldn’t change.

‘Public Servants’ is a very old-fashioned phrase, but, the truth is, that is exactly what we are. We serve the public by providing public services. We should be proud of that. Public Services are under attack. Part of that attack is on our pensions.

The idea to reward retiring public sector workers for serving the public is not something that has suddenly been cooked up by the Trade Unions yesterday. But Trade Unions are the only organisations who can defend our Services, our pensions and our past. Vote YES!

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 Information of all issues can be found elsewhere on our website.

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We are stronger together.

 

Eric Roberts

Branch Secretary

 

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