{"id":18788,"date":"2019-09-09T10:59:12","date_gmt":"2019-09-09T09:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=18788"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:55:35","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:55:35","slug":"bridey-mccreesh-public-service-pensions-tuc-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=18788","title":{"rendered":"Pensions &#8216;not some added luxury&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>Unite delegate Bridey McCreesh gave an impassioned speech at conference on Monday (September 9), in defence of public sector workers and their hard-earned pensions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking in support of a composite on public service pensions, Bridey said it was right for the composite to condemn the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bunjust and unfair decision of this government to deny public sector workers the reductions in contributions and pension benefit improvements that they have rightly earned\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPensions are not some added luxury or some add-on bonus &#8212; they are deferred pay,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe expect not one penny more or one penny less than we have worked for.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Bridey argued that the latest attack on public sector workers was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bnothing less than a new front on the Tories\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 decade long austerity offensive against public sector workers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat offensive has already cost 760,000 of our friends and colleagues their jobs and livelihoods,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bNow the Tories have come for the pay and pensions of those who escaped their axe.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt makes Sajid Javid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk of turning the page on austerity ring all the more hollow and false.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Bridey went on to highlight situation in Northern Ireland, where she said problems were \u00e2\u20ac\u015beven more acute\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt has now been two years and eight months since Northern Ireland has had a functioning executive,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. Throughout that time it has only been the sacrifice, hard work and good will of civil servants and public sector workers in local authorities which has kept government going.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat goodwill is fast evaporating now that we know our pensions won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be worth anything until a full forty years have been paid in.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Bridey warned that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bif lobbying and legal action are not enough then it is right that we step up the fight\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c through coordinated industrial action.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>She urged congress to support the motion, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bnot only to overturn the valuation suspension &#8211; but until the entire austerity offensive is defeated and reversed\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The motion was carried.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unite delegate Bridey McCreesh gave an impassioned speech at conference on Monday (September 9), in defence of public sector workers and their hard-earned pensions. &nbsp; Speaking in support of a composite on public service pensions, Bridey said it was right for the composite to condemn the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bunjust and unfair decision of this government to deny [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18789,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[270,51],"wps_subtitle":"Unite delegate Bridey McCreesh highlights threats to public service pensions","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18788"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18788"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25037,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18788\/revisions\/25037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}