BT Pension Index Linking

Iktisman

Thanks for this. Well worth a read.

Goldwing1

and the BT unions are doing what about it?

Nothing as usual I guess :mad:

Letters gone off. Not even a reply.

Ripoff_2

All,

Send this link to your MP with comments about this daylight robbery of your
BT pension
[URL="mhtml:{6EF71D81-FCE8-447B-947D-380BDD9A9C3B}mid://00000024/!x-usc:http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/may/12/bt-investors-hope-payout-pension-cut?CMP=twt_fd"]http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/may/12/bt-investors-hope-payout-pension-cut?CMP=twt_fd[/URL]

Headline: Investors could benefit from a £100bn windfall over the next 15
years following a government switch to a lower measure of pension inflation
that has given BT a £4bn-plus boost to its finances.

Dividends could soar at hundreds of blue chip firms after BT revealed higher
than expected benefits from a ruling that allows it to link annual pension
payouts to the lower CPI measure of inflation.

Old_Slaphead

Maybe BT (Unions) should now agree to drop the Crown Guarantee and customers should be ringfenced from excessive price increases used, inter alia, to support pension funding

Ripoff_2

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

Maybe BT (Unions) should now agree to drop the Crown Guarantee and customers should be ringfenced from excessive price increases used, inter alia, to support pension funding

The Crown Guarantee is not there to be dropped, it's part of the 1984 privatisation agreement agreed with the then Tory Government. The Crown Guarantee has nothing to do with the unions, it's the Trustees of the BTPS that have sort legal clarity and obtained it from the high court. The clarity was on which groups of pensioners it covered. It has nothing to do with BT's running costs or prices. The pension liabilty and payments by BT has not changed because of the Crown Guarantee and it's profit margins are the same. The pension funding is known by BT year on year and taken into account when setting profit margins and running the business.

de1amo

so i write to my tory MP in bournemouth--i am sure he will be knocking at camerons door on monday to vent my anquish.- screwed and who ever told you life was fair--the law makers, the company and even the unions are colluding to screw the pensioners-i expect the current bt staff are enjoying good pay rises and profits on their share saves.
i hate it but feel powerless to change what seems a deal done!

Ripoff_2

de1amo wrote: »

so i write to my tory MP in bournemouth--i am sure he will be knocking at camerons door on monday to vent my anquish.- screwed and who ever told you life was fair--the law makers, the company and even the unions are colluding to screw the pensioners-i expect the current bt staff are enjoying good pay rises and profits on their share saves.
i hate it but feel powerless to change what seems a deal done!

It's only a done deal if we allow them to get away with it, doing nothing is not an option....we need to keep this on the political agenda and therefore in the minds of the MP's.

They are all voted in remember, ok in your case like mine you have a Tory MP but they are supposed to represent their constiuents with out favour. Just keep up the pressure and keep complaining to them, they WILL get the message eventually. The unions are also not sitting back they are in the process of going for a judicial review, all is not lost and there is still much to fight for. The uprating has to be put before Parliament next year and every year, and we must fight this now and in the future.

Apathy only rules when good honest hard working people let it!

Ripoff_2

BT Pensioners may wish to be aware of the following but of course any one affected could well donate should they so wish you do not have to be a member of the NFOP to donate to the cause.

RPI CPI Update N.F.O.P Fighting Fund

A Judicial Review of the decision by the Secretary of State to switch to the CPI has been lodged with the High Court. It has been made by the TradesUnions GMB, Prospect, First Division Association (FDA), Police Federation of England and Wales and by the Civil Service Pensioners' Alliance (CSPA) and the National Federation of Retired Police Officers (NARPO)..

The Federation has been very active in lobbying to retain the RPI for pension increases. We have had legal advice relating to the RM and BT Pension schemes and to any move by the Government to allow schemes to modify their rules to use the CPI, even if the RPI is written into the rules.

The N.F.O.P Executive Committee would like to take further action on its members' behalf to protect their pensions and seek to join in with the Judicial Review.

However - as with any legal action - it costs.

We have written to our Branches to seek their support on a voluntary basis. If any of you would like to make a personal contribution to help the cause it will be very much welcomed. Please send a cheque made out to N.F.O.P and indicate in a covering letter that it is for the Fighting Fund.

N.F.O.P,
Unit 6 Imperial Court,
Laporte Way,
Luton,
Bedfordshire
LU4 8FE

A separate fund will be established and reported separately in our Annual Accounts. www.nfop.co.uk

JohnB47

It fair makes the blood boil!

"The now fully funded Bank of England pension fund has ignored the Chancellors calls for public sector restraint in annual pension reviews by sticking with RPI and snubbing CPI."

http://www.24dash.com/news/central_government/2011-05-31-Bank-of-England-Pension-Fund-Ignores-CPI

Ripoff_2

JohnB47 wrote: »

It fair makes the blood boil!

"The now fully funded Bank of England pension fund has ignored the Chancellors calls for public sector restraint in annual pension reviews by sticking with RPI and snubbing CPI."

http://www.24dash.com/news/central_government/2011-05-31-Bank-of-England-Pension-Fund-Ignores-CPI

It makes my blood boil as well, time to ask your MP's again "WHY" If RPI is RIGHT for the BOE then why is RPI WRONG for the rest of us? This is total hypocrisy!

RPI should be restored for ALL, not maintained for the selected few, this is disgusting, disgraceful and totally dishonest.

LETTERS and EMAILS TO YOUR MP's and STEVE WEBB & CO are needed to highlight this!