The structural deficit wasn’t caused by dinner ladies and nurses

Unison’s Dave Prentis described Wednesday’s Day of Action as “a women’s strike”. This is because women make up nearly two-thirds of the workforce affected by the pension changes that have triggered next week’s industrial action.

In contrast, the Tory-Lib Dem coalition and the right-wing media have been keen to depict strikers and union leaders in outdated terms. Old stereotypes and clichés have been wheeled out; burly men in donkey jackets standing round oil drum fires. Union leaders depicted as macho aggressors, dinosaurs from a by-gone age, out of touch with public opinion and financial reality. The government has been desperately trying to cast trade unions as enemies of economic growth, with dwindling numbers, becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Likewise, the coalition has been busy trying to demonise people who work in the public sector. Ministers have portrayed public sector workers as lazy, feckless, second rate, over-paid, greedy, selfish, and incompetent.

My sister is a teacher. For months government ministers have been belittling her profession. My mother works in a hospital. The NHS has been under constant attack from this government, who seem at times to seek to destroy it. I work for a university. This government’s higher education policy is an utter disaster.

As Dave Prentis highlights, it is the women in my family who are most affected by the  proposed changes to public sector pensions. Women, who earn on average 9% less than men.  Women, that the government’s cuts hit the hardest.

Next Wednesday, my sister and I will be on strike. I will be striking against unfair changes imposed on my pension scheme. These imposed changes will see staff pay more to work longer with less protection should they lose their job. My sister will be striking against the changes the government propose for her pension scheme, which are unnecessary and unfair.

Pensions are deferred salary. The government wants to tear up terms and conditions of contracts. They want to force us to pay more, work longer and get less in retirement. The Tory-Lib Dem government is doing everything it can to divide public opinion. This puts the Labour Party in a difficult position.

But the structural deficit wasn’t caused by dinner ladies and nurses. It wasn’t primary school teachers approving dodgy sub-prime mortgages in the USA. It wasn’t Town Hall receptionist or police support staff avoiding billions of pounds worth of tax through off-shore accounts. It wasn’t cleaners or caretakers awarding themselves massive bonuses as international share prices collapsed. Expecting ordinary hard working people to pay for the mistakes of others through devaluing their pensions is grossly unfair.

I will be striking on Wednesday. So will my sister. I hope we can count on your support.