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 http://groups-beta.google.com/group/uniscotretired | UNISON Scotland Retired Members |
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Dae Yeh Mind Thon Time?: Tales from the Dundee Tenements
Retired Member Mae Stewart publishes book
About UNISON Retired Members
UNISON works to raise awareness of issues which concern older people and to influence decision makers. Our priorities include:
- Pensioner poverty
- Health care and age discrimination
- Isolation and mobility issues
Retired and working members have a shared interest in obtaining decent incomes in older age, a universal health service and the creation of a civilised society. Today's workers are tomorrow's pensioners and UNISON's members work in public services on which many older people rely.
UNISON retired members enjoy all the benefits of UNISON membership including:
- Legal advice
- Welfare support
- Special discounts and offers on a wide range of financial and other services
If you've been a UNISON member for at least two years on the day you retire and have either received state pension age or get a pension, you can become a retired member.
- See our new Information & Resources Pages - for a range of information on rights, benefits, UNISON services and more.....
Motions selected for National Delegate Conference 2011
The two motions seleted to be submitted by the Retired Members' Organisation to the 2011 UNISON National appeared on the agenda of the Retired Members' Conference as Motion 4 - Improvments to the State Pension and Composite A - Phasing out of the cheque payment system.
The wording of the motions are as follows:
MOTION 4 - IMPROVEMENTS TO THE STATE PENSION
Conference is concerned at the ever - increasing discrepancy between the basic state pension and the poverty threshold. In 2009 the NPC's figures state that the poverty threshold is £165 ps whilst the basic state pension is £97.25pw, a discrepancy of £65.75pw. Much of the blame for this can be laid at the door od the Thatcher government of the 1980s which severed the link between pensions and earnings thus condemning pensioners for more than 2 decades to less and less money in real terms. The situation has now been further exacerbated by the restriction of the percentage increase in April 2010 being applied to the basic state pension only.
Conference notes that in 2001 with the invasion of Afghanistan and in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq seemingly unlimited sums of money running into billions of pounds have been found to prosecute thes questionable wars whilst pensioners are left ti endure ever greater poverty with no sign of this situation being addressed by any administration. Furthermore many EU countries pay significantly greater proportions of average working pay to their pensioners that the UK. The EU average is 60% with at least seven paying well above this level including Italy at 67.9% and -Spain at 81.2%. Even Estonia at 32.9% pays a greater percentage that the UK which lags behind at 30.8%.
Conference believes that this situation cannot be allowed to continue and that UNISON should be at the forefront of a campaign to remedy this anomaly once and for all and to use all means possible to try and ensure that all pensioners receive a decent living pension based on real costs, the poverty threshold and if appropriate the EU average of 60% of average earnings, any increase based on cost of living should be based on a special "Pensioners Basket" or at the very least on the Retail Prices Index (RPI) and not on the Consumer Price Index(CPI).
Conference therefore instructs the National Retired Members' Committee to:
i. liaise wiht the National Executive Council (NEC) and Labour Link to progress the payment of a state pension of at least the offical poverty threshold linked to average earnings or a special pensioners basket or RPI whichever is the greater;
ii. liaise with the NEC over working with the Trades Union Congress throughout the UK about a coordinated campaign to involve all trades unions including legitimate civil action if needed;
iii. investigate the viability of a British model based on the New Zealand Citizen Pension Scheme;
iv. urge all retired members to write to their MPs seeking thier support for the payment of a pension as defined in I above;
v. publicise this matter through all avilable channels;
vi. report back to Retired Members' Conference 2011
COMPOSITE A: PHASING OUT OF THE CHEQUE PAYMENT SYSTEM
This Conference notes that it is now the banks' firm intention to phase out cheques as a measn of payment from 2018 onwards. this will have a disproportionate adverse effect upon older people who are less likely to operate internet banking or debit/credit cards. They are aloso particulary vulnerable if they ate holding cash to pay incidental bills such as invoices form local tradepersons.
Conference is very concerned that the withdrawal of the cheque system will have an adverse effect upon the National Retired Members' Organisation, particulary in retired member activites at branch and regional levels. It is difficult to envisage how retired member activties can carry on in the absence of cheques or a suitable alternative.
Conference also note that, for many trade unions, pensioner and community organisations, making payments by cheque that require more than one signature is key to preventing fraud. so, Conference is also concerned any replacement system offer an equivalent safeguard.
This Conference sees no reason to phase out cheques other that to suit the banks' conveience and profit. Conference calls on the National Retired Members' Committe to vigorously campaign, by any means at their disposal, against the phasing out of cheques unless a suitable alternative system is agreed with the Payments Council and to seek the support of the National Executive Council and affiliates in this campaign and , via the National Executive Council, seek the support of other trade unions, Trades Union Congress and the appropriate national bodies representing community organisations etc