Union votes for action on pensions

A total of 81% of FDA members who voted in the ballot to support industrial action in the current dispute over the Government's plans to reform public sector pension arrangements voted 'Yes'. The ballot turnout was 54%.

The FDA is likely - at a meeting tomorrow of the union's Executive Committee - to call upon its members to take strike action as part of the TUC Day of Action on 30 November. At the same time the union prepares for action, it also remains committed to continue negotiations with the Government.

Jonathan Baume, FDA general secretary, said: "This is a decisive vote for industrial action, but this ballot should not have been necessary. No one has worked harder than the FDA to seek a negotiated settlement, often in the face of Government delay and procrastination. The improvements to the Government's reform proposals announced by Danny Alexander on 2 November are welcome, but we are making only limited progress because the Treasury has yet to provide clarity about what the proposals mean in detail.

"We are committed to securing pension arrangements that are both fair to our members and that continue to be sustainable. The FDA has only once before held a national strike ballot, and our members regard industrial action as the very last resort. So the Government needs to reflect upon why senior public servants feel driven to vote to strike.

"Many FDA members face a pay cut of up to 6% over the next three years because of the pensions levy - in the context of a pay freeze and high inflation, this is a cut in living standards of up to one fifth. There is also considerable anger that the Government's change - without consultation or negotiation - of the index for uprating pensions from RPI to CPI means a reduction of at least 15% in their real value before any further changes are implemented."

To reflect membership of several different pension schemes, a total of five separate ballots were held by the FDA: a main ballot; one for members in the Northern Ireland Civil Service; for members working in the House of Commons; for members working in the House of Lords; and for members working in PICT (Parliamentary Information and Communications Technology).