ATL

ATL votes to accept the pensions deal for teachers

Association of Teachers and Lecturers' (ATL) executive members voted on Saturday (28 January) to accept the government's final pensions offer for teachers. This follows the results of ATL's poll of members in which 91.6% of respondents voted in favour of the proposals*.

ATL polled all members eligible to be members of the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) in England and Wales, and all members eligible to be members of the respective schemes in Northern Ireland and Scotland because the government wants changes to the TPS to be replicated there. In England and Wales 91.6% of respondents voted in favour of the proposals, in Northern Ireland 89.2%, and in Scotland 100%.

ATL president, Alice Robinson, said: "ATL members are realists. They recognise how tough times are and that the government is determined not to give any further ground. Although the government's final offer does not give us everything we wanted, it is the best deal we could get in the current economic climate. And members do not want a significantly worse deal imposed on them if they rejected this one."

Dr Mary Bousted, ATL general secretary, said: "The pensions talks and negotiations were incredibly tough. The government did not want to make concessions and we had a hard fight to get a fairer deal for teachers. It was only because ATL members, along with the members of six other education unions**, were prepared to show their strength of feeling by going on strike and lobbying their MPs that we managed to force the government to shift its position and start talks to get an improved offer. I am really proud of the courage ATL members showed when they took part in the union's first national strike in its 127-year history.

"We are still not happy about the pension contribution rates for 2012 to 2014, on which the government refused to negotiate. But we will negotiate hard over the rates from 2015 onwards.

"We will also closely monitor the rate of members opting out of the TPS, Northern Ireland and Scottish pension schemes, and will ensure the government takes action if this threatens the schemes' health."

The government's final proposals are for:

* A career average pension scheme rather than the current final salary pension, which would benefit those who remain classroom teachers or are promoted early in their careers.

* An accrual rate of 1/57ths, rather than the current 1/80ths for who joined the TPS before 2007 and 1/60ths for those who joined after 2007. This would mean a teacher's pension would grow at a faster rate than in the current TPS. This is a 14% improvement on the accrual rate of 1/65ths in the government's initial proposal.

* Teachers would continue to be able to retire at any age from 55 onwards, subject to actuarial reduction, as they can under the current terms of the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS). Teachers' retirement age would be linked to the state retirement age, but retirement at 65 would be financially viable because of the improved accrual rate.

* Current and future teachers in independent schools would retain the right to be in the TPS, which is a commitment the government did not make until 19 December.

* Teachers who are 10 years from retirement would be fully protected under their current arrangements and teachers who miss the 10-years cut-off by three and a half years would also receive some protection.

* Pensions for teachers, along with everyone else, will rise in line with CPI instead of RPI as the government refused to negotiate on this.

* Pension contribution increases will go ahead from April 2012, because the government would not reverse its decision. However, details of the increases in 2013 and 2014 will be open to negotiation. And ATL has insisted on the government agreeing to reopen negotiations on pension contribution rates from 2015.

ATL has produced a pensions calculator to enable members to work out what the current pensions offer means for them. This, together with case studies and full details of the proposed scheme, are on ATL's website:  http://www.atl.org.uk/pensions/pensions-consultation/pensions-poll.asp

*ATL polled members eligible to be in the Teachers' Pension Scheme in England and Wales, in the Northern Ireland Teachers' Superannuation Scheme (NITSS), and in the Scottish Teachers' Superannuation Scheme (STSS) between 16 and 27 January 2012.

**The seven education unions which went on strike on 30 November were: the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), Education Institute in Scotland (EIS) National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), National Association of Schoolmasters / Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), National Union of Teachers (NUT), Undeb Cenedlaethol Athrawon Cymru (UCAC), and University and College Union (UCU).

Notes to editors

1. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) is an independent, registered trade union and professional association, representing approximately 160,000 teachers, headteachers, lecturers and support staff in maintained and independent nurseries, schools, sixth form, tertiary and further education colleges in the United Kingdom.

2. ATL exists to help members, as their careers develop, through first rate research, advice, information and legal advice.

3. ATL is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) and Education International (EI). ATL is not affiliated to any political party and seeks to work constructively with all the main political parties.