pensions
Articles about state and private pensions, pensioners and workers' struggles over retirement pensions.
London postal workers strike set for Friday, other regions to be balloted
Royal Mail is braced for further industrial unrest, with unions expected to ballot more regions for strike action as early as this week. It follows the vote last week by postal workers in London to stage a 24-hour walkout this Friday.
With plans to privatise the state-owned group in disarray, Jonathan DeCarteret, from the consultancy Post-Switch, is predicting that the London vote will prove to be the "starting pistol in a long summer of industrial strike action".
Greek general strike to go ahead
The planned general strike for later today, 10 December is still scheduled to go ahead, but unions bowed to the government and called off protest marches amidst Greece's worst rioting in decades.
2.5 million workers in the GSEE and ADEDY general unions, comprising around half of Greece's total workforce are to strike today.
They are demanding an end to cuts in public spending and attacks on pay and pensions.
Greece's transport network in particular is set to grind to a halt, as many airlines have already cancelled all flights in and out of the country.
Bolivian miners strike against Morales pension reform
The Bolivian government has lost over $1.5 million due to a strike at the country's largest tin mine, Huanuni, where workers are demanding a deeper pension reform.
Roberto Montano said the state-owned mine has been losing about $500,000 a day since workers went on strike, halting production, on Thursday afternoon. The official said the mine always closed on Sundays.
"They (the workers) are staging an indefinite general strike [...] they're waiting for negotiations between the Bolivian Workers Central and the government," Montano said.
Panic at oil pensions strike
Workers at the Grangemouth Ineos plant will strike for two days from Sunday and will shut down the Forties pipeline, which provides a third of the UK's daily oil output.
The government is warning consumers not to panic, as panic-buying of petrol has begun.
The strike of Unite members is against attacks on pensions, including closing the scheme to new entrants.
More information from Unite here.
More strikes expected as Greece passes pension reform
Greek unions promise to continue protests against the government's pension reforms, passed on Thursday.
The pension reform raises the retirement age for women to 65 and workers in hazardous industries will have to work an extra two years. Many accuse the conservative government of going back on pre-election promises not to cut pension rights.
Greece heading towards general strike
Greek workers are set to go on general strike tomorrow (Wednesday 19th March) in protest of the government's planned pension reforms.
The government's reforms would mean the merging of pension funds and increasing the pension age for some workers. The government, however, has not made public any details on the size of savings that will accrue from the reforms. The trade unions have also argued that the current pension system could survive if bosses were made to pay their contributions.
Workers continue to fight for their pensions in Greece
Walkouts by public sector workers against the pension reform bill are continuing, with a 24-hour general strike expected on Wednesday.
Last Wednesday saw a three-hour general stoppage called by the General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE), during which doctors, engineers, pharmacists and lawyers joined bank workers and rubbish collectors already on strike. The day ended with a march on parliament attended by hundreds of workers.
Further walkouts by bank workers in Greece
Bank workers are on strike for the second time in two months as part of the continuing campaign against pension reform.
The strike has disrupted service at the country's central bank, and has brought chaos to electronic trading systems, as well as stock and bond trading. Thousands of workers have been on strike since Monday, and it was decided on Tuesday to continue the action.
Strike threat resurfaces at Royal Mail
Hot on the heels of the wildcat strikes over pay in 2007, Royal Mail faces the threat of a new round of industrial action.
Unions have rejected the postal group's plan to overhaul its pensions scheme and are poised to ballot nearly 150,000 members over whether they back the plan or not.
Science museum staff vote to strike
National science museum staff have voted overwhelmingly to strike over pay and plans to close the civil service pension scheme to new members.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) working for the National Museum of Science and Industry (NMSI) are furious that a below inflation pay offer has been imposed on them at a successful time for the museum.
