PENSION VICTORY FOR RMT
LUL has confirmed: No plans are being developed or actively considered by TfL to change the TfL Pension Fund. The TfL Pension review management team has been disbanded.
You have successfully defended your pension scheme with no reduction in benefits and no
On 21 June 2022 over 50,000 RMT members took strike action across London Underground and the national rail network. It was the first national railways shutdown in decades.
increase in employees’ contribution rate.
RMT was the only union that took action to defend the TfL pension scheme:
• Together, all grades united, we won 7 consecutive ballots for strike action
• We took 6 days of all grades strike action.
WHAT THE VICTORY MEANS FOR YOU
l All pension benefits remain in place and continue to be based on your final salary
l You can still retire at 60 with no penalty
l Your pension is inflated by RPI not CPI
l Crucially, any future shortfall in the pension fund must be made up by LUL and not by increasing employee contributions
Keep up the fight for jobs and agreements! The campaign goes on! See back page for more details.
RMT members on London Underground took on the government and the Mayor… and WON! Pensions Victory Timeline
The fight for the TfL pension goes back to the Covid pandemic in 2020 but also to 2017. That is when the government, with the agreement of the Mayor, abolished the operational subsidy for TfL. No similar transport system in the world operates without a public subsidy and it was only a matter of time before TfL’s finances hit the buffers. That came with the COVID pandemic.
The government refused to restore public funding of transport in London, even though we were keeping services running right through the pandemic. The Mayor commissioned a review of TfL financial sustainability. A panel of business experts was assembled but the trade unions were not consulted. The review ruled out additional taxes on London’s financial sector and big businesses but raised the idea of trashing the TfL pension scheme to save money.
Our dispute over jobs, pensions and agreements began with a ballot for strike action in December 2021. For three years RMT members on the tube have stood together and refused to accept the arguments that we can’t afford a decent pension in retirement after years of working around the clock, days, nights, weekends, bank holidays.
The action included the momentous strike action of 21 June 2022. RMT took strike action across the national rail network and London Underground. The action gave confidence to other workers and soon a wave of strike action developed involving postal workers, teachers, barristers, doctors, nurses, civil servants and bin workers as well as other transport workers on rail, buses, air and even minicab drivers.
The threat of a developing national strike wave forced the government to step back and TfL abandoned several milestones that had been set on the path to pension attacks.
Pension reform has not succeeded on London Underground because of the steadfast determination to defend our pension by members who have shown they are ready to strike for their pension rights.
We are defending a pension fund:
which provides members with a guaranteed annual income for life based on their final average pensionable salary over the last 12 months
which provides members with a “promise” that they will receive a guaranteed level of income regardless of what happens to funding of the scheme
which puts a legal obligation on the employer that any shortfall in future funding must be made up whilst there are members in the TfL Pension Fund
which allows members to take their benefits from age 60 without any early retirement reduction
Which guarantees the pension will rise in line with inflation during retirement
which offers life members’ families and loved ones financial protection whilst they are working as well as dependants’ benefits in retirement
which offers members ill health benefits if they are no longer able to carry out their own job
which has member representation from the Trustee Boardroom to the various member-led TfL Pension Fund Committees
Mayor’s Independent Review (of TfL financial sustainability)
Modernisation of the pensions model, with government support liabilities could generate savings of £100 million pa, and cap future liabilities.
TfL Independent Pensions Review
Chaired by Brendan Barber, identified options of changes to the existing pension scheme or moving to career average model. The report stated that:
The modelling for the modified final salary options show savings to TfL in the range of £79.3m to £182.4m a year. The modelling for CARE schemes (including those with tiered contributions) shows cost reductions for TfL of up to £154.4m a year to a cost increase of £23.1m a year.
The report identified the Local Government Pension Scheme as a viable alternative to the TfL scheme.
TfL Pensions options paper stated that:
TfL will now need to work collaboratively with the government to continue with the further work that is required to meet the requirements of paragraph 40 of the Agreement, which states that TfL and the Mayor will agree with the government a final detailed proposal for any recommended changes to both future service benefits and past service liabilities, and an implementation plan by no later than 31 January 2023.
Faced with a week of strike action
TfL and the government agreed that no changes to the pension could be implemented before September 2026. However, TfL accepted it would work towards starting a formal consultation on transferring the TfL scheme into the inferior Local Government Pension Scheme by 1 July 2024.
LUL issued a Pensions Review Update to staff stating:
As part of our funding agreements with the last government we were required to carry out a review of TfL’s pension scheme. Extensive work was carried out and we always held the position that ‘do nothing’ remained an option throughout the process.
No requirement on pensions featured in our most recent capital funding agreement with the new government and our view is that the original condition has now been met. The government is aware of our position and there are no plans being developed or actively considered by TfL to change the TfL Pension Fund.
Pension review management team disbanded
At LU Company Council on 6/2/25 the management chair of the council confirmed that the pension review management team has been disbanded.
December 2020
We were called dinosaurs for opposing pension cuts but it is the pension reform programme that is now extinct
Victory on pensions but fight goes on
In addition to the six days action on pensions our stations and revenue grades took an additional day of action in defence of station jobs and working conditions. When a further day of action on the stations was called, in October 2023, hundreds of jobs were won back. The further expansion of rostering areas, downgrading of CSS1 stations to CSS2 and other attacks were stopped. We also won the guarantee of an offer of a CSA1 position for all CSA2s
But TfL and LUL are committed to delivering further real-terms cuts year on year. We must continue to fight to defend jobs and our agreements. Frameworks and other agreements are under threat as management seeks more flexibility to cover up for job cuts.
We have shown that we can win by standing together.
