McAvoy gets behind fight for pensions
Council leader backsWASPI
The leader of South Lanarkshire Council has thrown his support behind a campaign group who are battling against pension changes.
Eddie McAvoy has backed Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) and has sent a letter to pensions secretary Richard Harrington, asking that the changes be looked at.
His letter states: “I am writing to you in support of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign.
“While South Lanarkshire Council has a strong record of offering assistance to employees as they plan their retirement, there is no doubt that elements of the Pensions Acts of 1995 and 2011 have had a negative effect on a large number of women born in the 1950s.
“I note that since leaving the post of pensions m i n i s t e r Baro n e s s Altmann has since gone on record to admit the current government has not adequately addressed the hardships faced by some women as a result of these changes in legislation, and she added that the WASPI campaign had no support among Ministers.
“As you are the new minister wi t h responsibility for pensions, as part of a new team under a new prime minister and a new secretary of state, I hope that you will bring a fresh and more sympathetic approach to this issue and listen to demands for a fair system of transitional payments.”
WASPI campaigners are angered about the lack of notice they have been given regarding changes to their pensions.
UK legislation has accelerated the timetable for pension change by two years, meaning the state pension age will reach 65 for women by November 2018 and 66 by 2020.
As a result, women born on or after April 6, 1951, face having to wait longer than they expected to draw their state pension.
Burnside woman Anne Potter set up the South Lanarkshire branch of WASPI, and welcomed the council leader’s letter.
She said: “We’ re delighted. It’s always good to have another council onboard. The national aim is to get as many councils on board as we can, so we will be progressing with that in October.”
I am writing to you in support of WASPI