About Me
- Linda Roy
- Lifetime commitment to the trade union and labour movement. Been local workplace and national CWU representative and held many other positions in the CWU. TUC accredited tutor and disability champion. Former Labour town councillor and town Mayor.
Saturday 30 October 2010
Thursday 21 October 2010
BT Pension Scheme - Crown Guarantee
21 October 2010
LTB 922/10 BT Pension Scheme: Crown Guarantee
No. 922/2010
Ref: NC/SD/BTPS 6.1
Date: 21st October 2010
To: All Branches with BT members
Dear Colleague,
BT Pension Scheme: Crown Guarantee
The High Court today gave judgment in a case designed to clarify the
extent of the Crown Guarantee.
The Crown Guarantee was put in place by the UK Government on the
privatisation of BT in 1984 and would only come into effect if BT ever
became insolvent. The Government gave a guarantee that it would stand
behind BT's obligations to the BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) so providing
protection for BTPS members.
The case was brought by the Trustee of the BTPS to clarify the scope
and extent of the Crown Guarantee as this has never fully been
resolved. The key part of the ruling is that the Crown Guarantee can
cover members who joined both before and after privatisation.
The CWU has long called for clarity on this issue and the outcome of
the case is welcome.
The BTPS Trustee has said that the case gives additional clarity and
is favourable for BTPS members.
BT, which fully supported the case, has stated that the case will
have no impact on the existing agreed payments that will be made into
the BTPS.
While resolving the most important questions about the Guarantee the
Judgment did leave some further issues to be resolved. It is also
possible that the High Court's decision may be subject to appeal by
the Government. Further developments will be reported in due course.
A copy of the Trustee and BT statements are attached and further
information about the Crown Guarantee is available in LTB 303/2006.
Yours sincerely
Nigel Cotgrove
ASSISTANT SECRETARY
LTB 922/10 BT Pension Scheme: Crown Guarantee
No. 922/2010
Ref: NC/SD/BTPS 6.1
Date: 21st October 2010
To: All Branches with BT members
Dear Colleague,
BT Pension Scheme: Crown Guarantee
The High Court today gave judgment in a case designed to clarify the
extent of the Crown Guarantee.
The Crown Guarantee was put in place by the UK Government on the
privatisation of BT in 1984 and would only come into effect if BT ever
became insolvent. The Government gave a guarantee that it would stand
behind BT's obligations to the BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) so providing
protection for BTPS members.
The case was brought by the Trustee of the BTPS to clarify the scope
and extent of the Crown Guarantee as this has never fully been
resolved. The key part of the ruling is that the Crown Guarantee can
cover members who joined both before and after privatisation.
The CWU has long called for clarity on this issue and the outcome of
the case is welcome.
The BTPS Trustee has said that the case gives additional clarity and
is favourable for BTPS members.
BT, which fully supported the case, has stated that the case will
have no impact on the existing agreed payments that will be made into
the BTPS.
While resolving the most important questions about the Guarantee the
Judgment did leave some further issues to be resolved. It is also
possible that the High Court's decision may be subject to appeal by
the Government. Further developments will be reported in due course.
A copy of the Trustee and BT statements are attached and further
information about the Crown Guarantee is available in LTB 303/2006.
Yours sincerely
Nigel Cotgrove
ASSISTANT SECRETARY
Why privatise excellence?
My husband ordered a rail ticket online yesterday. It was delivered by our posty this morning. That's less than 18 hours later and by first class post. So why would anyone want to run down and privatise this excellent service from Royal Mail. It can't be bettered.
Wednesday 20 October 2010
It's the CWU Disability Conference this Saturday
Please come along and spend a day debating disability issues and listening to some inspirational speakers. More here Media News Archive CWU 2010 Disability Conference
Tuesday 19 October 2010
Friday 15 October 2010
Why we should keep the Post Public
The following comes from the CWU Broad Left. It may or may not indicate my political prefereces.
KEEP THE POST PUBLIC
For the 4th time in 15 years the Government are trying to sell Royal Mail off. So, once again, the CWU and the many friends in other organisations have launched the Keep the Post Public Coalition to make sure that this doesn’t happen. The ConDems are using a revamped version of the Hooper Report as their justification this time round, but are the arguments really any different from before?
Royal Mail – a Basket Case?
The Government are saying that Royal Mail is in such a state that only a dose of private enterprise can save it. What an insult to all those who work there. It’s true that the company has a cash problem at the moment but that’s got nothing to do with the way it’s run. From the moment the last Government brought in rules on competition that meant that Royal Mail were effectively subsidising the likes of TNT, we said this would cripple Royal Mail. We were right. The deficit in the pension scheme, which costs the business hundreds of million £’s a year to repay, was not the fault of the members. Rather, it was due to Government policies, which took money out of the business in the good years, rather than invest it or keep it in hand for the lean years. We said the way to modernise Royal Mail was through an agreement between the Union and the present management and not by bringing in outside, private sector managers. We did this last April with the Business Transformation Agreement.
What Do We Want?
We don’t need private enterprise to sort out the problems of Royal Mail. We need Government action. We need a change to the competition rules to allow the company to compete on an even playing field. We need the Government to take over responsibility for the pensions deficit. None of this would involve immediate injections of money but it would immediately transform the company’s balance sheet. These are the things the Government would have to do anyway to make Royal Mail attractive to private investors. So, why privatise Royal Mail in the first place? And the idea that it is a few shares rather than decent wages and conditions that motivate the members to do a first class job is frankly laughable.
The Future
The difference between a privatised Royal Mail and a public one doesn’t boil down to simply which one you prefer. It will have a drastic effect on both the service to the public and on the jobs and the conditions the Workers will face. Under privatisation, the main drive will be to return a profit for the investors. Unprofitable services will simply be cut. We already know of a plan to axe the Saturday delivery. This will cost thousands of jobs. In Holland, TNT only deliver three days a week to some addresses and few foreign postal services deliver through the door.
In a privatised Royal Mail, the business would be split off and parts of it sold separately to competitors. Again, this would put jobs at risk. Even the Post Office Network, which is due to stay publicly owned, would suffer. Why would a privatised Royal Mail carry on using them if they could find somewhere cheaper to do the work? Thousands more offices would end up closing. And we all know that the pay and conditions are far better than at the private competitors. In a privatised company the aim would be to drive these down to the lowest level.
The future in a publicly owned Royal Mail isn’t going to be all milk and honey. Modernisation will bring change and job losses. But a publicly owned, fully integrated postal service, where a strong union forms an essential part, is the best guarantee of preserving and improving the terms and conditions and pushing for new products and services that can create jobs in the future.
What You Can Do
The Government has said that they intend to bring a Bill to Parliament in late October/early November. The aim of the Keep the Post Public campaign is to make sure this Bill doesn’t get carried. As well as calling on every Labour MP to oppose it, we are taking the fight to the Tories and Liberals by campaigning in their 71 most marginal constituencies. The CWU will also be calling a national demonstration of postal workers at a later date. Contact your local branch representative to find out the details of the local campaign. Go and see your local MP or councillors and tell them what you think of the plans. Get your friends and family to write to them or to the local press. The more noise we make, the harder it will be for the Government to ignore us.
Privatising Royal Mail is still highly unpopular with the public. Every poll and every survey has told us that. If we do nothing, then we know what our future will hold. But if we can run an effective campaign, we can again defeat it. With the full support and assistance of CWU members, we will defeat it.
With savage job cuts around the corner both in the Public and Private Sector (estimates of 1.3 Million jobs) we need to defeat the attack on our members in Royal Mail and we need to defeat the cuts proposed by the present Government. We need to co-ordinate action at grass-roots level. This is time for a Fightback!
JOIN THE BROAD LEFT AND JOIN THE CAMPAIGN FOR A FIGHTING LEADERSHIP
To join the Broad Left please email: thebroadcast@btinternet.com
KEEP THE POST PUBLIC
For the 4th time in 15 years the Government are trying to sell Royal Mail off. So, once again, the CWU and the many friends in other organisations have launched the Keep the Post Public Coalition to make sure that this doesn’t happen. The ConDems are using a revamped version of the Hooper Report as their justification this time round, but are the arguments really any different from before?
Royal Mail – a Basket Case?
The Government are saying that Royal Mail is in such a state that only a dose of private enterprise can save it. What an insult to all those who work there. It’s true that the company has a cash problem at the moment but that’s got nothing to do with the way it’s run. From the moment the last Government brought in rules on competition that meant that Royal Mail were effectively subsidising the likes of TNT, we said this would cripple Royal Mail. We were right. The deficit in the pension scheme, which costs the business hundreds of million £’s a year to repay, was not the fault of the members. Rather, it was due to Government policies, which took money out of the business in the good years, rather than invest it or keep it in hand for the lean years. We said the way to modernise Royal Mail was through an agreement between the Union and the present management and not by bringing in outside, private sector managers. We did this last April with the Business Transformation Agreement.
What Do We Want?
We don’t need private enterprise to sort out the problems of Royal Mail. We need Government action. We need a change to the competition rules to allow the company to compete on an even playing field. We need the Government to take over responsibility for the pensions deficit. None of this would involve immediate injections of money but it would immediately transform the company’s balance sheet. These are the things the Government would have to do anyway to make Royal Mail attractive to private investors. So, why privatise Royal Mail in the first place? And the idea that it is a few shares rather than decent wages and conditions that motivate the members to do a first class job is frankly laughable.
The Future
The difference between a privatised Royal Mail and a public one doesn’t boil down to simply which one you prefer. It will have a drastic effect on both the service to the public and on the jobs and the conditions the Workers will face. Under privatisation, the main drive will be to return a profit for the investors. Unprofitable services will simply be cut. We already know of a plan to axe the Saturday delivery. This will cost thousands of jobs. In Holland, TNT only deliver three days a week to some addresses and few foreign postal services deliver through the door.
In a privatised Royal Mail, the business would be split off and parts of it sold separately to competitors. Again, this would put jobs at risk. Even the Post Office Network, which is due to stay publicly owned, would suffer. Why would a privatised Royal Mail carry on using them if they could find somewhere cheaper to do the work? Thousands more offices would end up closing. And we all know that the pay and conditions are far better than at the private competitors. In a privatised company the aim would be to drive these down to the lowest level.
The future in a publicly owned Royal Mail isn’t going to be all milk and honey. Modernisation will bring change and job losses. But a publicly owned, fully integrated postal service, where a strong union forms an essential part, is the best guarantee of preserving and improving the terms and conditions and pushing for new products and services that can create jobs in the future.
What You Can Do
The Government has said that they intend to bring a Bill to Parliament in late October/early November. The aim of the Keep the Post Public campaign is to make sure this Bill doesn’t get carried. As well as calling on every Labour MP to oppose it, we are taking the fight to the Tories and Liberals by campaigning in their 71 most marginal constituencies. The CWU will also be calling a national demonstration of postal workers at a later date. Contact your local branch representative to find out the details of the local campaign. Go and see your local MP or councillors and tell them what you think of the plans. Get your friends and family to write to them or to the local press. The more noise we make, the harder it will be for the Government to ignore us.
Privatising Royal Mail is still highly unpopular with the public. Every poll and every survey has told us that. If we do nothing, then we know what our future will hold. But if we can run an effective campaign, we can again defeat it. With the full support and assistance of CWU members, we will defeat it.
With savage job cuts around the corner both in the Public and Private Sector (estimates of 1.3 Million jobs) we need to defeat the attack on our members in Royal Mail and we need to defeat the cuts proposed by the present Government. We need to co-ordinate action at grass-roots level. This is time for a Fightback!
JOIN THE BROAD LEFT AND JOIN THE CAMPAIGN FOR A FIGHTING LEADERSHIP
To join the Broad Left please email: thebroadcast@btinternet.com
Monday 11 October 2010
EHRC's latest report on unfair Britain.
The EHRC has published it's latest report on equality and fairness in Britain. Read it here http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/news/2010/october/commission-launches-landmark-report-how-fair-is-britain/
Claimants to face benefits reassessment - UK Politics, UK - The Independent
Sadly this process started under a Labour government. Claimants to face benefits reassessment - UK Politics, UK - The Independent
Gender pay gap stalls.
The pay gap between men and women shows no signs of being reduced according to a report from the EHRC which will be published tomorrow. More here http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/progress-grinding-to-a-halt-on-equal-pay-2103347.html
Thursday 7 October 2010
Saturday 2 October 2010
Post Office may face staff ownership in John Lewis-style revolution | UK news | The Guardian
Here's what the ConDems appear to be proposing to do with Royal Mail and the Post Office. We have to fight them!
Post Office may face staff ownership in John Lewis-style revolution UK news The Guardian
Post Office may face staff ownership in John Lewis-style revolution UK news The Guardian
Friday 1 October 2010
European Commission adopts new strategy on gender equality - EU
On September 21st the European Commission unveiled it's 5 year equality strategy. Read it here
European Commission adopts new strategy on gender equality - EU
European Commission adopts new strategy on gender equality - EU
It's Black History Month
Black History Month starts today. Find out more here http://www.cwu.org/news/archive/black-history-month-starts-friday-01-october.html
It's EA day
Today, October 1st, sees the Employment Act 2010 come into force. This is a major peice of legislation which brings together all the strands of discrimination law. Find a guide and more details here http://www.cwu.org/news/archive/51340/equality-bill-comes-into-force.html
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