“Our campaign presents a working class alternative to the capitalist rulers and all their parties—Labour, Tory, Liberal Democrat, and Scottish National Party,” said Tony Hunt, a spokesperson of the League and co-chair of the London campaign. The other co-chair is Young Socialists member James Haywood.

“We will be taking our campaign to working people resisting the grinding offensive against living standards and conditions at work,” Clifford said at the campaign launch. The communist candidate had been promoting support for protest strike action by hundreds of thousands of union members over pensions in response to government plans to increase to 65 from 60 the age at which government-employed workers may retire without incurring a reduction in their benefits, and increasing from 50 to 55 the minimum age at which these workers may retire.

The UNISON union reported majorities of between 73 percent and 87 percent in favour of strike action in secret ballots and thousands of union members attended meetings in the lead-up to the action. The protest strike was called off by union leaders when the government offered talks.

The government moves follow on the ending of “final salary” pension schemes by the majority of UK companies, where workers retire at 65, replacing them with lower payout “defined contribution” schemes. Under these schemes workers’ pensions are dependant on how the funds were invested, how much workers and their employers agreed to pay into the scheme, and the interest rates at the time of retirement. The ending of final salary plans has provoked strike action at a number of companies.

The basic state pension in the UK is £79.60 per week for an individual and £127.25-£159.20 for a married couple. To qualify for the basic pension, a man must have paid National Insurance contributions for 49 years and a woman for 44-49 years depending on when she was born. Through a means-tested “pension credit” scheme, pensioners may get an additional £40 supplement. Despite this, 2 million pensioners, many of them women, are officially living in poverty. On average, retired workers in the United Kingdom receive just 37 percent of their earnings from the state. But in the face of uncertain economic conditions and the collapse of a number of private pension companies, there is a dramatic fall in the number of working people who are taking the government’s advice and “saving for their future.”

In addition to strike action by trade unions, pensioners themselves have taken to the streets in particular protesting rises in council tax that all residents here pay on their properties. Some have been prosecuted in court for refusal to pay.

In his pre-election national Budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown announced a one-off payment of £200 to pensioners to offset the rising council tax. He also announced that all individuals over 60 would receive free off-peak local area bus travel.

“Such tinkering is just a cosmetic move designed to hide the miserable conditions faced by millions of pensioners,” Clifford said. “The Communist League campaigns for a decent state pension—a living wage for pensioners—with the level set by the trade unions and pensioner organizations.”
 
 
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