Commenting on the findings of a National Audit Office report, being used by the Conservatives to call for a debate on public sector pensions, Dave Prentis, UNISON’s General Secretary, said: “We must stop this race to the bottom, pitting public sector against private, with pay and pension myths.
“It is wrong to say that all public sector workers enjoy gold-plated pensions – the real apartheid is between boardroom fat cats and low paid workers. “The report says that the average pension paid to a retired public sector worker is £7,388, but we know that for many workers it is far less.

“Women workers in the Local Government Pension Scheme receive just £2,800 a year and over half the women pensioners in the NHS Pension Scheme get less than £3,500. “Last year alone NHS employer and employee contributions also exceeded the cost of paying pensions by over £2 billion.
“The Conservatives also fail to consider that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to rise, with the economy growing about 2 per cent a year. “If public sector workers didn’t save for their pensions, they’d be forced on to means tested state benefits. “It would make more sense for the money ploughed into private sector bonuses and benefits to be used for private sector pensions.”

UNISON website