UNISON, the UK’s largest public sector union, today (24 June) accused the Government of piling more misery onto workers, with its plan to raise the state pension age for men to 66 by 2016.
Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, said:
“The Government seem hard wired into attacking the most vulnerable in society. Workers who have to rely on their state pension to make ends meet, will have no option but to carry on going for another year – whatever the cost to their health – but the better off will be able to retire earlier. One rule for the rich, another for the poor.
“It may be a choice for the fit and healthy to keep on going for another year at work, but for some, work takes a terrible toll on their health.
“Many workers across the public and private sector do very physically demanding jobs where carrying on until 66 is not a safe or practical option.
“You cannot expect paramedics to carry patients down flights of stairs or out from under cars into their late sixties. The same pressures fall on nurses, street cleaners, gardeners, home care workers, cooks, road diggers, engineers and cleaners not to mention the mental stress of working in very pressured environments like social work, in schools and universities.
“This lack of joined up thinking will pile more misery on workers, as well as increasing the long-term costs to our NHS.”