{"id":5786,"date":"2015-09-16T13:39:22","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T12:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=5786"},"modified":"2015-09-16T13:39:22","modified_gmt":"2015-09-16T12:39:22","slug":"lgbt-equality-fight-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=5786","title":{"rendered":"LGBT equality fight continues"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite delegate Maggie Ryan moved a motion today (September 16) at the TUC on discrimination in survivor pensions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a motion that was prioritised at this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s national LGBT conference.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThroughout this year, LGBT equality has rightly been at the forefront of our movement, with lesbians and gays supporting the miners leading our section of the Pride march in London and central to the Durham Miners Gala,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Ryan said.<\/p>\n

 
\nShe highlighted the introduction of equal marriage rights as \u00e2\u20ac\u015bone of the greatest victories in recent years\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 which ended a \u00e2\u20ac\u015blong injustice and fundamental inequality\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean that all discrimination has ended,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Ryan noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd inequality in survivor pensions remains.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhy should our pension contributions towards a survivor pension be calculated from December 2005?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she asked.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhere does the Treasury get the idea that the equalisation of pensions in line with other survivors is unaffordable?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve earned it, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve paid into it and we want it back,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Ryan asserted.<\/p>\n

 
\nShe pointed to the fact that major private sector employers agree and have already equalised \u00e2\u20ac\u201c including BA, BAE systems, Barclays and Jaguar Land Rover.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor years the LGBT community has battled for what is right and the struggle goes on,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Ryan went on to say.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe pink pound is good enough to be taxed when earned and spent. So why isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it good enough to give back to loved ones?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nAnd, Ryan added, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not only same sex couples who are affected.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn public service schemes it is common for widower\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pensions only to be calculated by reference to contributions made by women after 1988,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe pay in equally and then get treated unequally,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Ryan added.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLast year, the coalition government was forced to look at survivor benefits in occupational pension schemes.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut the report was about measuring discrimination, not about how to end it.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015b[There was] no attempt to give any costings for remedying the problem for those of us affected – active members versus deferred members and those already in retirement.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNot even beginning to look at the different aspects of benefit, such as future payments versus backdating,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 
\nRyan called on Congress to campaign to end this discrimination now.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is where we can all make a difference,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen a partner, wife or husband dies, the additional stress and discrimination lesbian and gay couples face is an outrage.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nCalling for support of the motion, Ryan concluded:<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ensure all pension schemes are equalised and end pensions discrimination entirely.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Find out more about discrimination in survivor pensions here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite delegate Maggie Ryan moved a motion today (September 16) at the TUC on discrimination in survivor pensions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a motion that was prioritised at this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s national LGBT conference.   \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThroughout this year, LGBT equality has rightly been at the forefront of our movement, with lesbians and gays supporting the miners leading our section […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5787,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[329,270,392],"wps_subtitle":"Equalise pension schemes now","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5786"}],"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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5786"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5788,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5786\/revisions\/5788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}