Decent pensions – securing the future for all

Thanks to everyone who helped make last week’s Decent Pensions lobby of Parliament such a success.

Over two thousand teachers and lecturers from the length and breadth of the country came to Westminster to lobby their MPs.

The vast majority of MPs were lobbied and many of those Parliamentarians that were unavailable have arranged to meet teachers locally at a later date.  If you did not manage to meet with your MP on the day it would be great if you could visit them at their local surgeries.

We have received lots of valuable feedback on meetings with MPs. It is clear from the feedback that Michael Gove and Danny Alexander will be receiving lots of letters over the coming days as most MPs agreed to write to them to relay their constituents concerns. Although we were not surprised that not every MP supports our case, we were pleased that many of those not on our side do at least concur with us on the need for the Government to conduct the overdue valuation of the TPS. Many thanks if you have already provided feedback if you have not yet we’d be very grateful if you could please do so here or email the feedback form to info@decentpensions.org.uk so we have a complete picture of MPs’ responses.

As well as the effective lobbying that took place, the General Secretaries of the seven unions involved presented the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb MP, with the joint petition signed by over 150,000 teachers and lecturers.

Your action has already served as a wake-up call to the Government. It demonstrated the unity of the profession in opposing the Government’s proposed changes to our pensions. If Ministers don’t recognise that pensions are both affordable and sustainable, the support of teachers and the rest of the public sector for the TUC day of action on 30 November will be the next demonstration of our resolve and determination to stand up for our pensions.