New Guernsey pension deal

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Common ground reached in Guernsey pension talks

Prospect has persuaded the States of Guernsey to return to the negotiating table with improved plans to revise public sector pensions after a three and a half year stand–off which saw the island’s first trade union march and rally.



Following the march in April the States shelved plans to introduce legislation to impose measures to move public sector employees from a final salary to a career average scheme.

But yesterday deputy chief minister Allister Langlois announced that talks have been successful in negotiating revised proposals which meet the States’ aspirations of ensuring affordable future pension provision, while still enabling employees’ to have a secure and dignified retirement.

As part of Association of States Employee Organisations, Prospect played a leading role in securing talks and ensuring they were underpinned by actuarial evidence.

The union will be issuing members with a breakdown of the proposals, together with briefing materials. These will include a series of worked examples to provide a clear idea of how they will work in practice, if accepted.

Prospect negotiations officer Ben Middleton said: “This is a significant step which could not have been achieved without the sterling work of our members on the ground who supported the march and rally, and backed the call for further talks.

“In doing so we avoided a situation which would have created significant unrest for years to come, and seen the unnecessary waste of taxpayers’ money in legal challenges, had the States’ remained wedded to forcing the changes through.”

Details of a series of Prospect pensions briefings and further information will be released in the coming days before members will be asked to vote on the revised package at the end of September.