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Tomorrow's pensioners

28 August 2008

Young members should acknowledge the importance of the National Pensioners Convention says DWP group young members' officer Helen Flanagan.

In June I attended the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) annual ‘Pensioners Parliament’ in Blackpool as a guest speaker at a fringe meeting held jointly by PCS and the NPC.

You may be wondering why PCS and, in particular young members, should be interested in the activities of the NPC and their campaign on state pensions?

If so you might be surprised to discover that the main issues debated were defending public services and campaigning on the state pension.

Attendees spoke passionately against privatisation and for a decent state pension above the poverty level.

Supporting our older comrades

Many NPC activists are former trade unionists, who have devoted all of their lives to the movement and bettering the working lives of others.

Their work focuses on broadly left-wing, socialist issues by highlighting inadequacies and injustices.

A line quoted at the parliament was: “You can judge a society by the way they treat their elderly.”

The NPC has offered full support to PCS in our campaign against job cuts and privatisation - their stance on these issues is exemplary.

How we won a state pension

The state pension was introduced in 1908, following campaigning from socialists and trade unionists.

Before this, the elderly were forced to rely upon charity or the workhouse to care for them in old age. The state pension is an issue which affects every worker.

It is inevitable that we will age and eventually be pensioners ourselves. But what will be left of the pension then?

The state pension has gone through many changes in recent years. In 1979 the Thatcher government broke the link with earnings - this resulted in the pension being worth less than it was in 1908.

The work of the DWP is also being privatisated with tenders invited from the ‘third sector’, leading to concerns that we are going back a hundred years.

Campaigning for our future

The NPC aren’t campaigning for improvements in the state pension and to defend the welfare state just for their own benefit.

They are doing so for future generations too. We should recognise their importance and fully support them.

 

o You can download campaign material including a petition at www.npcuk.org/pension100/materials.

You can also ask your branch to affiliate to the NPC and support the NPC lobby of parliament on 22 October 2008.
 

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