Green Party members working in the public sector will be joining their trade union colleagues striking to defend their pensions from attack by the government.
North East Green Party Co-ordinator, Shirley Ford (1) explains:
"The government is looking to save £3 billion a year by increasing employer contributions to public sector pensions - effectively a tax on public sector workers to pay for the fiscal deficit. Yet public sector workers are paying the same VAT and national insurance increases as everyone else, they are subject to a pay freeze, and hundreds of thousands are losing jobs due to the cutbacks - especially in the North East.
"This is simply unfair - especially when we know that this same government cancelled the tax on bankers' bonuses that would have raised £2 billion. We should remember whose greed and irresponsibility triggered the financial crisis in the first place."
Green Party member, Tony Gair (2), from Jarrow adds:
"Government claims that public sector pensions are unsustainable because members are living longer are simply untrue and are contradicted by their own figures. Both Lord Hutton and the OBR show that the cost of these schemes is projected to fall significantly in the future (from 2% of GDP in 2015-16 to 1.4% of GDP by 2050 according to the OBR).
"The myth that public service pensions are gold-plated is being peddled by government to try to bolster their argument that they have to cut public sector pensions because they are unaffordable and unfair on private sector workers. In reality, the median pension in the public sector is just £5,600 a year while the average pension for a director in a FTSE 100 company is £220,000 a year.
"Yes - most private sector workers have seen their pension schemes cut drastically, but slashing public sector pensions will do nothing to improve private sector pensions. The government is simply attempting to join private sector employers in a race to the bottom for the vast majority of workers."
Green activist, Vicki Grist (2), from South Shields is outraged:
"It is an absolute scandal that of the nearly £30 billion spent on tax relief on pensions each year, two thirds goes to the 1 in 4 taxpayers who earn enough to pay higher rates of income tax!
"The Green Party argues that there can be no sustainable society without everyone getting a fair share of the cake. Action to defend public sector pensions is part of the fight to get a more equitable distribution of society's wealth."
Green Party member and welfare rights worker, Alison Whalley, from North Tyneside concludes:
"As Greens we demand decent pensions for all. Our policy is to end pensioner poverty by introducing a weekly Citizen's Pension of £170 for a single person, £330 for a couple. We would fund this through higher and fairer taxation - wealthy corporations and individuals should pay more to help create a more equal society."
Notes:
(1) Shirley Ford, Green Party regional coordinator, will be on strike as she works in a primary school in South Shields. Her school along with almost all the schools in South Tyneside will be closed. As will all council buildings apart from South Shields Town Hall, Middlefields depot and a social services building, Kelly House. She will be at the picket line at the Town Hall, along with her husband, also on strike, working in Adult and Community Learning for S Tyneside Council, and their son - whose school is closed and who wants to see a fairer future too!
(2) Shirley, Tony and Vicki are also members of the choir "Making Waves" which will be singing at the rally
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