What we were used to – no longer available to workers in the private sector
Since the collapse of Defined Benefit pensions first for new joiners and soon after for further accrual by those already members, the unions have fallen out of love with workplace pensions. Indeed many (led by Terry Pullinger) refuse to acknowledge DC working “pensions” as much more than savings schemes. This is a shame. Unions over the last 100 years have helped form a system that is often called “deferred pay”. Lately the CWU in its conversation with Royal Mail, started referring to a new kind of pension, one that it called a “retirement wage”.
Unions made sure there was a way back for postal workers
For both Royal Mail and its unions, the importance of employees putting money by and their employers making at least the AE minimum into what was awkwardly called a “collective defined contribution scheme” was the starting point for a revival in interest in a pension scheme that employers could fund and members get a wage in retirement.
Unions can now include pensions in collective bargaining.
If you see pensions as deferred pay, then pension contributions made by employers are a part of the settlement with workers and their representatives – typically the unions.
As employers and unions enter into bargaining this year, we can expect that not just wages today but deferred pay will be in play. That is because the unions see the efficiency of a collective arrangement, even if it lacks the guarantees of defined benefit schemes, is a step in the right direction.
If the first stage for an employer is to talk of what kind of workplace pension they will offer, then a way back to what unions recognise as “pension” is underway. If both unions and employers recognise the value of CDC as a means of deferring pension then improvements become part of the settlement.
This not need be adversarial
I am no longer a member of a union and the pension officials of unions rightly see me as a long way from the workers that they chiefly represent , I being immersed in pensions.
But I have found that in my discussions as I talk with union officers (whether inside or outside their pension departments) a wish to move pensions on and to work with those who are delivering CDC.
The unions voice is insistent and should be listened to
I do not yet hear the voices of unions in pension conferences or unions regarded as influential in discussions within pension circles ; this needs to change.
So I have asked one of the pension officers who I have met to come and talk to us about how unions are reacting to the new legislation surrounding CDC pensions and the regulations that will be delivered through TPR’s CDC code in only a fortnight’s time
An invite to you to find out more about unions and their changing attitude to pensions
A conversation about the union’s influence on workplace pensions going forward
Neil Walsh is both a pension professional and the pension officer of Prospect Union. So he can see CDC from the perspective of both a pension insider and a member representative.
Henry Tapper, a well-known enthusiast for CDC, will be talking with Neil about how unions feel about CDC on Tuesday (21st July
We will find out how unions feel about DB and DC. We’ll find out if CDC can bridge the pension income gap and help people plan their later life with a retirement wage rather than a pot full of money
