FDA delegation joins Liverpool's condemnation of pension attacks

The FDA sent a four-strong delegation to this week's TUC Congress in Liverpool, taking part in debates on public sector pensions, disability discrimination and democratic renewal.

Speaking on Monday's public sector pensions debate, FDA general secretary Jonathan Baume described the attacks by the media and politicians as "economically illiterate" with "myths… being peddled" and "distortion is rife".

He told delegates from across the trade union movement that "we must make the argument day after day that the critics are simply arguing for equality of misery".

But he warned: "We cannot afford a fight to protect our pensions to become the public sector's equivalent of the miner's strike. And we must avoid divide and rule."

An NUT delegate, opening the debate, said that cuts to public sector pensions "would disproportionately affect women" and that there was a need to "level-up not level-down" pension provision across the economy.

Earlier in the day, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said "there has never been a time when the energy and the determination of our movement [have] been more needed… in fighting to defend decent pensions". He went on to criticise the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats for wanting to "rip up" the pensions deal for six million public service workers.

The FDA's equalities champion, Sarah Guerra, spoke in the debate on the effectiveness of the 'two tick' disability symbol, which is meant to show that the employer using the symbol are positive about employing disabled people. She told delegates that FDA members had "mixed views" about the usefulness of the guaranteed interview scheme, one of five employer commitments attached to the two-tick symbol's use.

She added: "The two-ticks badge has to be meaningful; it has to affect behaviour and not just be a toothless policy."