New pensions = new strikes - papers 6 December

At least four main public sector unions are set for talks that could see them coordinate reaction to the proposals due to be published by cabinet office minister Ruth Kelly on Wednesday, the paper says. The plan, which will replace cushy final-salary schemes with ones calculated on average career earnings, will initially hit some 500,000 civil servants starting in 2006, but is likely to be extended to some 5 million The Times says “senior officials concede”. While unions contemplate strikes over the issue, The Daily Telegraph runs the angle that since public sector wages are higher th...