Fury over teachers' pension changes
Teachers could lose a "staggering" £74,000 each because of the Government's controversial decision to switch the method of calculating the rate of inflation on which pensions are based, a new report has claimed.The NASUWT teachers' union said switching from the Retail Price Index to the Consumer Price Index was a "naked raiding" of public service workers' pensions.
The union said that based on the current RPI of 4.8% and the CPI figure of 3.1%, a teacher with an annual pension of £10,000 could lose a "staggering" £74,000 over a 25-year period.
Chris Keates, the union's general secretary, said: "This change represents nothing more than naked raiding of public service workers' pensions to make them pay the price for the greed and recklessness of the financial sector.
"Teachers have made their financial plans for retirement in good faith on the basis of the long established and historic link with RPI.
"To change the rules, not only for serving teachers but also for those who have retired, is reprehensible.
"It leaves the promises to protect accrued rights made publicly by senior figures of the coalition Government, including the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Chancellor, in tatters.
"The average public service worker's pension is £5,000. A teacher's pension is just under £10,000. Hardly generous or gold plated."
The union published a pension ready reckoner to allow teachers to work out how they will be affected by the change.
"To change the rules, not only for serving teachers but also for those who have retired, is reprehensible.
"It leaves the promises to protect accrued rights made publicly by senior figures of the coalition Government, including the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Chancellor, in tatters.
"The average public service worker's pension is £5,000. A teacher's pension is just under £10,000. Hardly generous or gold plated."
The union published a pension ready reckoner to allow teachers to work out how they will be affected by the change.
© 2012 Press Association