OxBowBusiness: Worth a read

10 April 2006

Worth a read

I've just seen the link to an article from the Economist that's well worth sharing. You need to subscribe to the Economist to read the article on line. The first two paragraphs are priceless in their apposite juxtaposition and verissimilitude, however, so I am showing them here: the rest I can't show for copyright reasons.

ON MARCH 27th, John Lewis, a retail group, decided to raise the normal retirement age for its pension scheme from 60 to 65. Those over 50 will not be affected, and the change will be phased in for those in their 40s. The decision, agreed by staff, will enable John Lewis to keep its defined-benefit scheme, in which pensions are based on years of service and final salary, open to new employees.

The following day, hundreds of thousands of council workers stopped work to protest against a similar reform to the local-government pension scheme. Schools, libraries and sports centres were closed. Public transport was brought to a standstill in some areas. The 11 unions organising the strike claimed that over a million employees stopped work, the most since the General Strike 80 years ago. The Local Government Association (LGA), representing employers, says that 400,000 were on strike in England.
The Economist 30th March 2006

Duncan Williamson