ICTU to stage national protest on economic crisis
ICTU said the “national mobilisation and demonstration” which will take place in Dublin on November 27 has been called in support of its own proposals on alternative ways to tackle the economic crisis, which include a focus on job creation, investment and growth.
The trade union umbrella body has written to all affiliate organisations encouraging their “fullest support and participation”.
ICTU general secretary David Begg said the scale of the cuts proposed for Budget 2011 were devastating and clear evidence that the Government plan is not working.
“We have had three austerity budgets to date and we are now in a worse position than when the process started,” he said. “The definition of stupidity is to keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome. Three deflationary budgets and the result is a higher deficit and more people out of work.”
Meanwhile, teachers have warned they could take a legal challenge against proposed changes to the public sector pension scheme that they say would force them to pay in more money than they would ever get back.
They described the proposals, which are to apply to new entrants to the profession from next year, as “larcenous” and said new teachers would be better opting out of the scheme and making pension arrangements privately.
All three unions, the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI), Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) and the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI), complained yesterday that the value of their pensions had been falling for the past 15 years because of various cuts and changes introduced by different governments.
Under the proposed changes, which will affect all public sector workers, pensions will be calculated on the average salary earned over the individual’s career rather than their final salary. Pension payments would no longer be increased in line with pay increases to serving teachers either but would be linked to the cost of living which traditionally has been lower, although pay freezes may wipe out any difference for the foreseeable future. New teachers will also be adversely affected by the plan to increase the general retirement age from 66 to 67 in 2021 and to 68 in 2028.
The unions jointly commissioned research by Trident Consulting which found that the new pension scheme would result in a pension amounting to 26% of final salary after working for 43 years compared to the current arrangement where the pension is worth 32% of final salary after working for 40 years. Lump sum payments on retirement would also fall from 150% of final salary to 129%.
