Addressing the final day of the union’s annual conference, Dave McCrossen – Usdaw Deputy General Secretary said: “The fight for workers' rights must include decent pensions and a reasonable retirement age. A decision was made by government several years ago to equalise men and women's retirement ages. Your state pension age depends on when you were born and has been steadily increasing. It is now set in statute that the state pension age will increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028. It is anticipated a further increase to age 68 will take place by 2046.
 
“The current Tory Government has been considering bringing this even further forward to 2037, impacting on anyone aged 44 to 52, they have now delayed the decision to increase the age to 68. Probably because they are worried about the consequences in an election, but we know which direction they are going. They are pushing for people to work harder and longer, against the backdrop of a failing NHS and growing ill-health.
 
“While life expectancies are increasing, there is huge inequality under the surface of those statistics. If you live in a less affluent area and are in a lower paid job, your life expectancy could be significantly reduced. So if you have to work past 68, past 70, the time you have to enjoy your retirement could be severely limited by your class. That is unjust and it is wrong.
 
“In-work poverty today is rife. People don't have the spare money to boost their pension savings, that's if they can afford to pay into a pension at all. Many workers must rely on the state pension and quite simply, 68 is just too late. It is unacceptable to expect people to keep on working, especially in tough physical or stressful jobs, until they are close to 70.
 
“Let's be clear about one thing, raising the state pension age is a deliberate choice made by a government that has completely failed to address the root causes of inequality. A government without any regard for the harsh realities faced by our members and their families. They are indifferent to the systemic issues that they have caused, with inadequate pension provisions and the removal of social safety nets. Instead they choose to punish workers, with policies that push retirement further out of reach for millions. Enough is enough. It's time to stop these relentless rises in the state pension age.
 
“It is well documented that the UK has one of the lowest state pensions in the developed world and the withdrawal of the triple lock guarantee would push many pensioners below the poverty line. A less generous state pension would have a knock-on effect for our members, who are the pensioners of tomorrow. There would then be a need to rely more heavily on private pension contributions. So low paid workers, who struggle to afford their pension contributions already would be left even further behind. It would also disproportionately affect women.
 
“We must defend and protect the triple lock guarantee to prevent pensioner poverty in the future. That’s why we warmly welcome the announcement this week, that Labour will guarantee the triple lock in its manifesto and the triple lock will be protected by Labour, for the duration of the next parliament. An important commitment and one that will give so many of our members and their loved ones, the reassurance they need.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion