Unison criticised for final salary pension stance
8th September 2009
Unison has been accused of hypocrisy by members after admitting it may have to cut back on its final-salary pension scheme, it has been revealed.
Details of the union's pension funds seen by The Times show that the union's pension deficit has more than doubled in the last year.
It now stands at GBP 120 million, according to the Unison general-secretary Dave Prentis.
One official told the newspaper: 'Only a year ago the union launched a massive campaign and staged two days' strike action to protect local government pensions.
'Now they are preparing to sacrifice their own staff benefits.'
The union represents 1.3 million local government and NHS workers and has been active in its aggressive opposition to public sector pension cuts.
Earlier this year, delegates at a Unison conference in Brighton heralded final-salary pension schemes as one of the great achievements of the labour movement alongside universal education and healthcare.