Signalled Superannuation Improvements Good News for State Sector Workers

The Government’s decision to look at improving the design and coverage of the State Sector Retirement Savings Scheme was good news for many workers in the wider state sector, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

Two working groups were to be set up to look at improving the Government’s contribution to workers in their third and fourth year in the scheme, and to include workers beyond the core public service in the scheme.

The CTU recognised the willingness of the Government to work alongside unions on such vital issues as superannuation, Ross Wilson said.

“We worked together to establish a scheme for workers in the core public sector. Now we can work through how to make the scheme more sustainable after the first two years, and also how to ensure that there are similar employer contributions in the wider state sector. ”

It had been a bone of contention that DHB employees were excluded from the original scheme and this had surfaced during the current nurses’ negotiations.

“Other state sector workers feel similarly strongly,” Ross Wilson said. “While the working parties do not guarantee a successful outcome, the CTU is confident that if the same co-operation that was shown in developing the scheme applies, then there is every chance of a positive result.”

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