In what's been portrayed by union leaders as a "major breakthrough", the government has appeared to back down on implementing an immediate change in the retirement age from 60 to 65 across the whole of the public sector.
However, one needs only to scratch beneath the surface to realise that this is a sour deal for workers.
The agreement means that new workers who are not in the scheme already will have to work to the age of 65 and possibly beyond, given future negotiations.
On top of this, local government workers and firefighters are not included in Ine deal
For those in the Local Government Pension Scheme, still worse approach has been proposed with rights being revoked immediately and at least a 2
r cent increase in worke
atributions by April 20(
In other words, existing employees will be expected to work longer and pay more for payout upon retirement.
The possibility for solidarity action round the issu has diminished dramati in March of this year when Belgium became the latest of a series of European countries to be hit by mass strike action in protest at plans to hike the official retirement age. Much of the country ground to a halt as tens of thousands of workers stopped work and barricaded streets on October 11. were facing the same threat and could have provided massive, unified action to oppose the increase in the retirement age for all workers.
In accepting this proposal, union bureaucrats have played right into the hands of a classic tactic of the bosses - divide and rule.
Despite the howling of editorial pape slid the Financial Times and whining of capitalist barons like CBI head Digby Jones, the neo-liberal publication The Economist recognized that _New Labour had achieved exactly what they were looking to do.
In an article in their 22 October edition they state that "talk of a climbdown is rather exaggerated" and that "the unions have signed up to its [New Labour's] original savings target of £13 billion over 50 years- and the point of the exercise was to save money" It is perhaps not surprising that they fail to mention that this "sign up" by the unions was done without a ballot or consent of their members. Some members of the far left also played a highly damaging role in voting for scheme. the agreement was reached, PCS president and member, Mark Serwotka hit the news programmes calling the sellout of younger workers "a fantastic achievement".