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Press Release

Over 12,000 teachers act to defend their pensions

14 October 2010

Following a call by the National Union of Teachers last week, more than 12,000 teachers have emailed their MPs to oppose threats to the Teachers' Pension Scheme and stand up for what they are worth.

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers' union, said;

"This gives a clear message to government that teachers will not stand by and see their pensions unnecessarily eroded. Since 2007, teachers have already been paying more for their pensions and the retirement age has been raised to 65. The changes agreed ensured that teachers' pensions are sustainable and affordable and the figures in Lord Hutton's report confirm this.

"This week's inflation announcement shows that RPI inflation for September is 1.5% higher than CPI. The government proposes to use CPI inflation to increase public sector pensions, including teachers' pensions, every year from now on. It is this September CPI inflation figure that will be used to increase pensions in April 2011.

"A retired teacher on a £10,000 pension will receive a pension increase that is £150 lower under this proposal than they would ordinarily have received. This is the first in an annual series of cumulative losses that will eventually lead, we estimate, to a total of £35,000 lost over twenty-five years. The NUT believes this to be a breach of accrued rights as well as a breach of an election promise."



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National Union of Teachers

National Union of Teachers

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