In 2024 Unite the union stepped up in defence of pensioners like never before, and we will continue fighting into the new year.
During the general election, we launched the Decent Retirement for All manifesto. Then, a Labour government was elected with a historic majority, on the promise of change.
But instead of uniting the country around a programme of change, their first act in government was to pit public sector workers against pensioners.
Unite was clear from the beginning. We reject the idea that pensioners’ winter fuel payment must be cut in order to pay for public sector pay rises. We reject the idea that the winter fuel payment must be cut in order to pay to fix the mess left by the Tories. Cuts are not the answer.
Just 50 of the richest families are worth £500bn combined, the same as half the population. The money is there, it just needs to be taxed. A wealth tax of one per cent on the assets of the richest one per cent could raise £25bn. That would pay for the winter fuel payment more than ten times over.
We took the fight to the Labour Party Conference and defeated the Labour leadership, successfully passing a motion that called for the winter fuel payment to be reinstated, a wealth tax to be introduced, and the fiscal rules to be abandoned.
We led the news for days, establishing Unite as the leading voice in defence of pensioners and putting our demand of a wealth tax on the political agenda.
We then organised a mass lobby of Parliament, with 500 pensioners rallying outside and demanding meetings with MPs inside.
Rallies at Holyrood and Stormont were held too, driving forwards our demands in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
And we have begun legal action against the government, the first time Unite has launched legal action of this kind against a Labour government. We believe the cuts to winter fuel are not just cruel and callous, they are illegal. The government did not follow the proper processes, and pensioners may die as a result.
Our campaign is working. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, we have won significant concessions for pensioners. In Scotland, the government will be introducing a £100 payment for all pensioner households from next winter, rising to £200-£300 for households claiming pension credit.
In Northern Ireland, all pensioner households who lost the winter fuel payment will receive a £100 payment by the end of March. Though they do not go far enough or come soon enough, these wins are a direct result of our campaigning.
In 2025 we will continue fighting for pensioners. The campaign to reinstate the winter fuel payment will continue, in solidarity with other organisations.
Rodney Sadd
Crowland
Unite the union delegate for South Holland & The Deepings CLP
