Retired Members: we demand a New Deal for Pensioners

October 16 2025

Retired CWU members have called for a “new deal for pensioners” to fight the “excessive abuse” older people experience at the hands of politicians.

The demand for the union and their allies to launch a campaign was made by over 80 delegates at a conference held in Birmingham to discuss strategy and issues yesterday (15th October).

Quoting Boris Johnson’s infamous remark that he would rather “let the bodies pile high” than implement a third lockdown, Essex Amal delegate Kevin Simpson said that despite the “disgust” he felt over Johnson’s comment, older people have experienced “repeated attacks” on themselves “also by this government, many before, and probably after.”

Describing the need for the union to develop “strong policy and strategy” at both headquarters and branch level to “combat the excessive abuse” older people experience at the state’s hands, Kevin argued for wholesale change, saying that the “dross” directed against older people has to be “gotten rid of”.

Speaking on behalf of the committee, NEC retired members representative Norman Candy said: “We had the new deal for workers – now we need a new deal for pensioners.

“It’s not just the political parties out there attacking retired people – just this morning on television, I was watching the presenters discuss the papers with a right-wing and a so-called left-wing journalist.

“Both thoroughly agreed with each other that the triple-lock must go.

“We, as a movement, need to form a coalition. The trade union movement has been abysmal in supporting pensioners, and you never hear the TUC leadership defending the triple-lock or putting the retirement age back.

“This campaign has got to come from us, and we can easily engage people who aren’t retired yet – nothing ever comes as a lifelong guarantee from an employer, and it is ultimately the fight of everybody currently in employment too.”

Alongside voting through policy for intensified lobbying and campaigning over expensive utility bills and the state of the privatised water industry, internal questions were also discussed, with delegates voting on questions to do with digital inclusion, membership recruitment drives and for more accessible information over campaign progress.

After a minute’s silence for members who have passed since last conference, delegates also heard from senior deputy general secretary Tony Kearns, who will be retiring at the end of the month.

He warned that despite the British state pension being one of the lowest in Europe, the British government and media are trying to “set” younger and older people “against each other” so that they can “pull the ladder up on the younger generation” and “billionaires can get more billions”.

Tony thanked all of those who supported him in his work over the years – also thanking “those who didn’t – it was fun jousting with you.

“We have all been committed to a common purpose – to the betterment of our members, and to retirees in wider society.

“Those of us in the working class who want to fight – it’s always been a fight, nothing’s changed in that regard, and we have some big fights to have over the triple-lock and other such questions in the coming years.

“But this common purpose is amongst us, and after leaving employment at the CWU I will still be with you in the battles ahead.”