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Why education staff took action on 30 November to protect their pensions
Thanks to concerted action by members of ATL and other education unions, the government has significantly improved its pensions offer.
For details, see:
Or read on to find out why ATL members took industrial action in June and November 2011.
We know that taking strike action is far from ideal for parents and carers, and it's not a decision we took lightly.
But we also know that should the government make us pay more, work longer and get less in retirement, then thousands of experienced support staff, teachers, lecturers and heads will retire early or leave the profession; many talented graduates, already burdened with debt, will rethink becoming teachers and lecturers because they cannot afford to pay nearly 10% of their salary in pension contributions; and it will become even more difficult to recruit headteachers who will shoulder the highest contribution rates of all.
In the independent sector, the government has plans to exclude teachers and lecturers from any new pension scheme, making them even more likely to leave the profession.
In the long run, young people's education will suffer from the loss of talented and motivated professionals.
Not everything reported in the media about this dispute is accurate. Read the following questions and answers so you can better understand why we have taken our current position.
Can the country afford the current public sector pensions when people are living longer?
Changes to teachers' pensions were agreed in 2007 by the unions to deal with life expectancy and to keep the scheme viable in the long term. These changes included increased contributions by teachers, lecturers and heads and a later retirement age of 65.
Changes to the local government pensions scheme for support staff and school and college managers were implemented in 2008.
As far as anyone knows, these changes are working well. This month's highly publicised new offer from the government showed the country's pension costs will reduce from 1.9% to 1.4% of GDP over the next 50 years. The National Audit Office report in December 2010 suggested public sector pensions are "sustainable and affordable".
The government claims our pensions can't be afforded, but to date has produced no figures to back this up. If it does, we will negotiate how we change the scheme to meet any shortfall.
Why shouldn't education staff retire at the same age as everyone else?
The government accepts that firefighters and police officers cannot be expected to work to state retirement age because of the special nature of their jobs. But all parents know that working with young people is also physically and mentally demanding.
At the moment, few teachers work beyond the age of 60 with many leaving from 55 on a reduced pension. Support staff currently work until 65 and they're very worried about their ability to work until nearer 70.
Aren't public sector pensions gold-plated?
The average teacher's pension is £10,000 a year and the average local government worker's pension (which education support staff can join) is £4,000 a year.
Already, the government's change to how pensions are calculated – the move from RPI to CPI – has seen education staff lose up to 15% in pension benefits.
New proposals to move from a final salary to career average scheme will mean education workers who are more than 10 years away from retirement will lose on average 20% in pension benefits. Teachers' pay has been frozen for two years and support staff pay for at least three years – and they face the same increases to VAT, fuel and travel costs, and cuts to benefits as everyone else.
Our teachers, lecturers and heads currently contribute 6.4% of their salary to pensions and now they're being asked to pay up to 50% extra – with some higher earners paying even more.
Our support staff are mostly female, low-paid, part-time workers who say they'll opt out of the pension scheme as they can't afford increased contributions. They will have to rely on benefits paid for by the taxpayer in retirement.
But the government's new offer means teachers can retire on £25,200.
Sadly, no. The small print says that a teacher would get £25,200 if:
she works for 43 years and
receives a 4.5% pay rise every year
We know that the average teacher:
works for 22 years* and
currently has a two-year pay freeze and
doesn't get close to a 4.5% pay rise with the highest increase in the past 10 years reaching 3.7% in 2001.
The average teacher's pension is currently £10,000.
*In 2010, the average length of service was 22 years.
Why should the taxpayer foot the bill for public sector pensions when private sector pensions are so much worse?
Actually, the government is currently putting more taxpayers' money (last year £38 billion) into private sector schemes, for example through tax concessions, than into public sector schemes.
Taxpayers have to foot some of the bill for pensions one way or another. We do it now by paying for state benefits for the elderly – and this bill will rise in the future as too many private sector employees have no occupational pension and will rely on the state in retirement.
If public sector schemes are worsened, the benefits bill will increase even more in the future as more people claim benefits to make up for their lack of pension.
Surely it is better to provide reasonable occupational schemes for all, so people save for their retirement out of their pay, rather than rely on state benefits?
We believe everyone deserves to retire on enough to live with dignity, no matter where they work.
Isn't striking irresponsible when the government wants to negotiate?
We have been trying to talk for a year. It was only after ATL took action on 30 June 2011 that the government took the unions seriously, started real negotiations and improved its offer.
We are encouraged by the government's offer and are trying to find an agreement. But the new offer still means education staff would pay more, work longer and get less, and we cannot accept all of the current proposals.
We know we must compromise, but the government must move further.
Shouldn't striking be the last resort?
It is the last resort and it is with regret that we have to take action again. We have tried every avenue to make the government change its mind – from a 150,000-name petition, to a mass lobby of Parliament in October, to members sending detailed letters to MPs. We've met many times with ministers in the education department and in the Treasury.
The government's new offer may have come too late to avoid action on 30 November, because we don't think there's time to reach a compromise which is acceptable to our members, and we cannot call off our strike without a firm agreement.
Won't strike action be detrimental to young people's education?
We know that strike action has a short-term impact on education, but we also know that these pension changes will create long-lasting damage. A decent pension scheme is part of the remuneration package for many support staff, teachers, lecturers and heads who choose to make a career in education rather than a high-flying job in the City or in industry.
With all students facing huge debts, we believe many talented and motivated people won't join or stay in the profession, preferring to take better paid jobs elsewhere. It will be young people who suffer in the end.
What can I do to support ATL's campaign?
We'd welcome your support for our campaign. You can share this factsheet with your friends and family so they can understand our position. You can write to your MP asking why education staff should pick up the bill for the budget deficit caused by the banking crisis.
You can follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/atlunion and on Twitter at @ATLUnion. Our webpage www.atl.org.uk/pensionscampaign will keep you up to date with talks.
You can also download this information as a PDF.