The news comes less than 48 hours before hundreds of thousands of public sector workers are expected to strike on Wednesday’s Day of Action.
It is thought that 57,000 NHS patients could be affected and almost 90% of schools are expected to close.
The RCM has not balloted members, but is supporting the day and says it may be forced into future industrial action.
Jon Skewes, RCM director of employment relations and development, has issued the following statement:
‘Government ministers are threatening to withdraw undertakings to protect those in their last ten years of service and not improve the pensions offer currently on the table.
‘The RCM is not currently taking industrial action but is supporting the TUC Day of Action.
‘We are absolutely opposed to our members' pensions being stolen from them.
‘The government will ignore the depth of anger on this issue among midwives and other NHS staff at their peril.
‘If significant improvements to the existing package of proposals are not negotiated by the government, in good faith, we will be forced to ballot our members on industrial action early next year.
‘We want to see fewer threats from the government and more commitment to negotiation.’
It also stated that the government should recognise that midwifery is a physically challenging profession and it may not be possible for people to work until they are 68 years old.
The statement concludes: ‘The threats and bullying of government ministers over the Day of Action on pensions may backfire if this pushes non-striking organisations such as the RCM to ballot their members on industrial action.’
Its release follows a recent
survey of 6000 midwives in which only 9% said they felt valued by the government.
Chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, said that those in the public sector will ‘continue to get among the very best pension schemes available to anybody’.
He admitted that people will be asked to work longer and to pay in more, but claimed most people, particularly those on low and middle incomes and female workers, would ‘get a better pension at retirement than that which they can expect now’.
