Picket Line for Fair Pay: Queen Elizabeth Hospital Strike 4/5 Sept 2024

Yesterday I went to the London CIV (Collective pension investment vehicle for London Council Pension funds) Annual Conference in Woolwich Works, Greenwich. During lunch time I made my way to near by Queen Elizabeth Hospital to join low paid health assistants on their second day of strike action for Fair Pay. 

There was a very lively and noisy rally by the picket line, at the main entrance of the hospital. I spoke to the strikers and offered support and solidarity on behalf of my branch, London region and also in my role as a Member of the UNISON NEC. 

It was great to talk to activists and strikers about the dispute and also to Regional Staff supporting the strikers. Including my former lay union colleague, Joy Pearce. 

As the Chair of UNISON London Labour Link committee and a Labour Councillor, I will be also contacting various people to push for an urgent settlement of this dispute. 

I will post further on the London CIV conference. 

Speaking about decent pensions at Brent Local Government AGM 2022

 

Today I had been invited by Brent UNISON to speak at their AGM on the importance of decent pensions. Well done to the branch for not only having the leader of Brent, Cllr Muhammed Butt speak and take Q&As but also its deputy leader, Cllr Margert McLennan. 

I had been invited in my role as Chair of UNISON London regional pension network. Also, I had recently been appointed by the London local authority trade unions, to fill their seat on the shareholder Committee of the London Pension collective investment pooling vehicle (better known as the London CIV). 

My aim was to remind trade union members in Brent how important it is to join and stay in the Local Government Pension scheme. 

I began by recalling being a Council housing officer on an estate in Tower Hamlets in the early 1990s, I remember being horrified by pensioner poverty. So many of our retired residents were living in simply dreadful conditions. They had no spare money for treats, holidays or even decent presents for their grandchildren. Recent research indicates that in 2021 some 18% (nearly a fifth) of UK pensioners still live in poverty. 

I also spoke about if you don't join the council pension scheme you miss out on "free money" since your employer is paying at least double what you contribute AND your income tax should be reduced. 

Also, you get free life assurance and free protection against ill-health. If you are not in the Council pension fund and then die or have a serious medical condition, it is likely you, your spouse and your dependants will get nothing. 

Sadly, I remember when a young man with a dependent spouse and 2 teenage children died in service due to an accident when visiting relatives. He was not in the pension scheme and therefore his spouse and kids got nothing, not a penny from the employer to help them out. 

Please do not let this happen to you! If you are eligible join your pension scheme join today! If money is tight then consider what is known as the "50/50" option. You pay 1/2 your dues but get 100% life cover (but you only get 1/2 of what you should get from your pension - so only do this as a temporary stop gap)

There was a wide ranging Q&A with members including a discussion on decarbonisation of our pension funds and the need to do this via a "Just Transition".

Appointed as trade union nominee on Stakeholder Committee of London Collective Investment Vehicle (CIV)

 

I was really pleased to have been nominated as the new joint trade union  rep to the London CIV. This collective pool of London Council's pension funds potentially will have £44 billion of assets under its management. Many thanks to Christopher Cooper from UNISON Southwark Local Government branch who has now retired for the great work he has done as our rep in the past. 

A day in the life of a Labour movement activist

I had a busy day today but a really worthwhile one. Started off by cycling to West Ham station to meet my Councillor Ward Colleague (and fellow Deputy Mayor) Charlene Mclean and hand out leaflets to commuters, supporting Sadiq Khan, who is standing to be re-elected as London Mayor in May. It was cold but at least it was not raining!

Then went into Central London (via tube & Ken Bike) to chair a forum meeting of UNISON London Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) representatives from 10 different funds. We had Eve Keith, who is the UNISON Staff Pension fund manager as our guest speaker, who gave a fascinating account of her day job. Afterwards we also discussed problems with fund administration, taxation and the London CIV.

Ken biked to UNISON centre for lunch at canteen (with by chance a long standing Labour NEC member).

On the way via Ken Bike to another LGPS Pension meeting in Islington Town Hall (this time with Councillors & officers) I stopped off on route to show support and solidarity to members of UCU (University and College Union) at their picket line in Tavistock Square who are on strike over pensions and pay.

This was the first time I have ever been inside Islington Town Hall and it is a stunning building.

Afterwards I took tube back to West Ham, picked up my bike and cycled to East Ham Town Hall for a Cabinet meeting. At this meeting I presented two reports. First one was the possible purchase of a newly build block of flats in East Ham for Council tenants. Which is subject to terms being agreed but I am really pleased that we are actively seeking to acquire desperately needed homes using Right to Buy receipts and prudential borrowing. This was agreed in principal.

The second proposal was the Cyclical Decorations & Repairs Programme.  Another positive report. As well as building and acquiring new homes we are going to decorate and improve our existing housing stock. This was passed as well.

I cycled home very happy.  

Is there going to be a market crash? Do we or don't we derisk our pension fund? London CIV and Carbon Divestment

This evening I chaired my first Newham Investment & Accounts committee (Local Government Pension Scheme) meeting. I really pleased that we were able to able to wade our way through stacks of often complex business.

Many thanks to the new members of the Committee who despite being thrown into the deep end held our officers and advisors to account.

Councillor Veronica Oakeshott was elected Vice Chair.

Tonight I invited observers from Newham Carbon Divestment to address the next meeting of the Committee.

A number of major issues were discussed including our concerns about the London CIV (Collective Investment Vehicle) where we are (maybe) effectively outsourcing Newham's £1.3 billion pension assets while still retaining responsibility for all its pension liabilities. Watch this space.

Another big issue was what should we do about the risk that the equities market will crash as most (not all) commentators are now suggesting will happen? Watch this space as well. 

Why Pensions are so important and organising to defend the Local Government Pension Scheme

Today I had a record breaking 3 meetings on Pensions. First I chaired a meeting of Greater London UNISON reps who sit on local Council Pension Boards (see group picture of Forum members above).

UNISON has cross service group national and regional forums on the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). The overriding purpose of these forums is to defend and improve the LGPS which 4 million UK workers depend upon and has £250 billion in assets.

We discussed:-

• Support appropriate take up of the 50/50 option, especially for low paid workers who would otherwise leave the LGPS. Point out you still get full life insurance cover with 50/50
• Recruiting and training for new reps; 
• LGPS fund manager Baillie Gifford refusal to talk to trade unions about manufacturer Tesla's appalling  health & safety record.
• Indemnity insurance for Pension board members. The saga continues. Why do some funds have it but others say it is not necessary? 
• How to challenge inaccurate calculations of pensions (a rep reported that there has been some awful big mistakes made); 
• Poor governance arrangements on some London Pension boards; 
• Member representation on the London Pension Fund Authority
• Access to UNISONs financial advice partner Lighthouse; 
• Carbon divestment campaign. Branches and Climate campaigners need to work together. 
• Carbon Neutral investment; 
• New Minister for Local Government Pensions (who knows his stuff); 
• 2018 LGPS PLSA conference; 
• Millions of pounds of savings already made by London Pension funds due to UNISON's work on exposing excessive fees:
• Problems with the London Collective Investment Vehicle (especially with Governance and ESG)
• Disaster. The government wins legal appeal that they can force LGPS to invest in line with the whims of Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary. What could possibly go wrong?  
• We finished with a minutes silence for the victims of Grenfell. 

UNISON LGPS Seminar - date change now January 10th 2018 UNISON Centre (& London CIV meeting)

(I will be chairing this meeting again. London UNISON LGPS will also be meeting on Monday 11 December in order to attend the public meeting of London CIV at London Councils building. We will have pre-meeting at venue nearby beforehand. Details to follow)

"We have had to change the date for the seminar - but on the plus side we can confirm Jim McMahon Shadow LGPS Minister will be speaking

National Seminar: Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)

Wednesday 10th of January 2018 - 10.30am to 4.30pm

UNISON Centre – 130 Euston Road, London

The union’s Capital Stewardship Programme is holding a seminar for all LGPS Board members, regions and branches on the governance and economics of the LGPS. There are major reforms being implemented England, Wales and Scotland and these will be discussed across

The union has began a major organising campaign to discuss how best regions and branches can win seats on the LGPS pools.

Outside speakers have been invited from Labour’s Shadow LGPS Minister, the LGA, and DCLG

Preliminary agenda

Labour and the LGPS
The Scheme Advisory Boards - progress
Valuations, cost sharing and the 50/50 scheme
LGPS Cost Transparency – why costs matter to you
LGPS Pooling – how do we win representation
Carbon disinvestment and a just transition – how to campaign

Please contact me if you wish to reserve a place c.meech@unison.co.uk (UNISON LGPS activists only)

Best wishes

Colin Meech, National Officer, Capital Stewardship Programme"

Herding cats in the LGPS pools

Professional Pensions Magazine & website

"John Gray says the London CIV need a simpler and more representative governance structure 

The London CIV (collective investment vehicle) is currently undergoing a much needed governance review and hopefully lessons will be learned for the other seven Local Government Pension Scheme CIVs (pools or authorised contractual schemes) that are currently being set up across England and Wales. This is important since the London CIV already manages £5bn of employees' pension money and plans to manage £25bn by 2020.

As any pension trustee or investment adviser knows, good governance is absolutely vital to ensure the safe, efficient and effective management of funds.

Currently the London CIV has two 'governance' committees or boards overseeing the management special vehicle set up to run the CIV. One is composed of councillors from each of the 33 London authorities and another one compromising of council officers.

As you can imagine, a governance committee of 33 politicians from different and competing political parties is inherently problematic, and having another separate committee of paid officers can, at best, result in confusion and delay in decision-making. A well-placed source recently commented to me that running the London CIV must be like trying to "herd cats". Which is not a good place for any fund to be in.

So a simpler and more representative structure seems sensible and surely not beyond the wit of man or women to devise.

But good governance is not just about staff's pension futures and ensuring  contributions by employees and employers are kept as low as possible but also about making sure that the funds are run in the interests of beneficiaries first and foremost as well as the other important LGPS stakeholders (Such as councils and other employers). This, after all, is the primary duty of all pension schemes.

The best way of achieving this aim is to have beneficiary representation on the governance structure of the London CIV and the seven others. In the private sector up to 50% of pension trustees are employee representatives while currently in the London CIV there are none.

All funds have local pension boards that are made up of employee and employer representatives.

So far only two out of the eight pools have any form of beneficiary representation. Surely it cannot be right that a majority of pools are proposing to have no employee representation whatsoever?

Would not the London CIV and others benefit from having the 'buy-in' of beneficiaries who are actively participating in it?

Recent guidelines make it clear that there should be greater consultation with scheme members, in particular with regard to environmental, social and governance investments. However, their representatives on the governance boards of CIVs could be one way towards satisfying this requirement. 

It is more than ironic that it would appear that private sector schemes are more 'democratic' and accountable than comparable public sector schemes. Pensions are 'deferred pay'. The money belongs to employees and beneficiaries, not local authorities, so it is only right and proper that they share the responsibility of governance with the employers.

Local LGPS pension boards have now been in operation for two years and there are a number of experienced and capable employee representatives who could serve on a CIV board.

So as an employee representative on a London pension committee, then pension board for 20 years (as well as a councillor member of another London Borough's pension committee for seven years) I hope that a key recommendation of this review is that there should be employee reps on the future London CIV working in partnership with councillors and officers to make sure that the CIV is a success and exemplifier for all the other pools. 

John Gray is a member of the London Borough Tower Hamlets Pension Board (Personal Capacity only)

APPG Local Government Pension Funds (and the pitfalls of infrastructure investment)

Last week I attended an evening meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Local Authority Pension Funds chaired by Clive Betts MP.

Before the meeting started I had a robust but interesting exchange with a policy expert on Local Authority Housing companies. I am really worried about such investments but promised to read his paper and then meet.

At the meeting itself the guest speaker was National Infrastructure Commissioner, Julia Prescott, who gave an upbeat presentation on the many opportunities offered to LGPS pension funds by infrastructure investments. I am generally a fan of pension funds investing in in long term infrastructure projects but in the Q&A that followed, I was reminded of some of the challenges, in particular, those facing local government pension investments in this asset class.

In response to a question, Julia gave the example of funds investing in a future Silvertown tunnel in East London in a positive light when obviously she was not aware of the huge political opposition to a such a tunnel locally and the environmental risks and reputational damage that any investor in a tunnel would face, especially if a local authority pension fund.

I had to leave early for another meeting so I did not have the chance to ask a question but I suspect that the new London wide Council Pension Collective Investment Vehicle (CIV) would face enormous problems investing in such a project that many think would result in the carbon monoxide gassing of children.