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"Workers are being told to work longer, pay more and receive less," said James Clancy, NUPGE National President. "We stand in solidarity with each and every UNISON member in the fight for decent pensions. Enough is enough."
Ottawa (30 Nov. 2011) - The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), representing over 340,000 members across Canada, is sending messages of solidarity to members of UNISON protesting today as they struggle against massive government changes to their pensions.
UNISON is Britain and Europe's biggest public sector union with more than 1.3 million members. Today, UNISON is staging a one-day walk out to protest the government's recent austerity measures.
The major issue is the attempt to impose destructive changes to public service worker pensions: raising the retirement age, forcing raising employee contribution rates as well as lowering the accrual rates for current and future pensions for all health care, local government and public service workers.
"Workers are being told to work longer, pay more and receive less," said James Clancy, NUPGE National President. "It's a shameful way to treat those who have worked so hard to provide quality public services to communities everywhere. We stand in solidarity with each and every UNISON member in the fight for decent pensions. Enough is enough."
NUPGE members sent the following video with words of solidarity to the UNISON members taking part in the Nov. 30 pension strike.
"We must work together until governments across the world stop the attacks on workers and public services and turn their minds to the real problems which are income inequality and a lack of tax fairness," added Clancy.
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The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE