Success in an important campaign backed by UNITE, to save cheques. As well as many people who like to use them, this will benefit UNITE members working in IT & Comms, Finance and GPM sectors.
Details from the payments council and UNITE.
There's still a battle to be won to retain cheque guarantee cards, without which the usefulness of cheques is reduced significantly.
Thanks to Paul Welsh, convenor at Brush Electrical Machines, who has contacted me to say he's supporting me in the NEC elections.
Sally Pirrie, seconded rep at UNISYS / iPSL, kindly provided this supportive quote:
Ian has been pro-active member of the union, for several years as a young member and now as a senior union representative in his company.
Out of Ian's interaction on behalf of the union, in his company, our union has benefited by his drive and ambition to give the working person a union membership that is there to protect them in their work place.
Our union needs pro-active members on the NEC and Ian is one of these people.
Please support Ian.
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I wrote on Saturday about the latest round of attacks on our pensions and the possibility of industrial action at Siemens against this.
The scale of the attack by employers in our sector is huge. As well as Siemens, I understand that Capgemini, Atos Origin and Unisys have announced their intention to close their Defined Benefit pension schemes to existing members. Do you know of others in our sector?
All eyes on the resistance at Siemens...
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Over the last few years, many employers closed their "final salary" or "defined benefit" pension schemes to new members. In many cases they cut benefits or increased employee contributions too.
There are worrying signs that employers are now back for another slice of our pension rights. It's only a few weeks since UNITE condemned Unisys trying it on, and they aren't the only ones.
Members in Siemens have now voted in a consultative ballot by over 80% in support of industrial action to stop similar moves. This resistance has already produced widespread media interest (including online in ComputerWorld UK, Global Pensions, The Times, and Computer Weekly). This in itself must be worrying Siemens, as the union prepares for a legal ballot.
Employers across the sector will be watching the outcome keenly, so the results will indirectly affect pensions at other companies too. Industrial action is never easy, and always a last resort for members. When members anywhere do decide action is necessary to defend their rights, all of us should get behind them.
The fact that the state pension is so pitiful makes occupational pensions even more vital for those fortunate enough to have one at all. Restoring the state pension to the level it would have been at if the Tories hadn't broken the link to average earnings is long overdue.
UNITE is running a workshop on pensions for reps in our sector on 7th November, in conjunction with the National Sector Committee meeting the next day. Let's hope all the issues get a good airing there.