Vote YES to Protect Your Pension: LGPS 2014 Ballot

From tomorrow (31 July 2012) UNISON members will be able to vote on the new look Local Government Pension Scheme 2014.

My advice is to ignore the miserablists who are urging rejection for reasons I cannot even begin to understand never mind explain.  This (LGPS 2014) is a good deal.

Since the Union cannot identify who is in the scheme or not, all those who work for employers who have membership of the LGPS will be balloted. If you are currently in the pension scheme you need to vote YES to secure it. If you are not currently in the scheme I would also recommend you vote YES since you may be able to join it later.

Voting YES is a "no-brainer" in my view. This is a good deal that should secure the scheme for the future. Check out the latest advice below from the UNISON pension advisors:-

"It’s time to have your say! Use your vote on the new pensions proposals.

• Ballot will be held 31 July – 24 August.
• Ballot helpline (10-21 August) 0845 355 0845

Among the improvements to the LGPS negotiated by Unison are:

• No overall contribution increase – 90% of members will pay the same or lower contributions than now – you will only pay more if you earn over £43,001 a year.
• A career average scheme which uses all your pensionable pay to calculate your pension, increase in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI)
• An improved 1/49th accrual rate, which means your pension builds up faster each year
• Pensionable pay will include non contractual overtime and additional hours worked by part-time and term-time wokrers – so more of your earnings will count towards your pension
• Most part time workers will pay less for their pension as contributions for part timers will be based on actual pensionable earnings from 2014, not the full time equivalent as they are now
• A new 50/50 option means that after April 2014 you can choose to pay half the contribution to receive half the pension in those years while keeping full survivor benefit and ill-health pension protection. You can opt back into the full contribution for full pension rate at any time.
• If you are transferred to a private or voluntrary sector employer, you will still have the right to stay in the LGPS.

Current scheme members’ pensions benefits for service before 1 April 2014 are protected and will still be calculated on final pensionable salary on leaving service or retirement. The current normal pension age of 65 will continue to apply to this part of your pension. The existing Rule of 85 protections will still apply and members will not have their pension reduced if they are made redundant after the age of 55 regardless of normal pension age.

If you want to find out more about how these changes will affect you then go to http://www.unison.org.uk/pensions/lgps.asp"