I still believe that pensions should be sacred and the campaigning done by the ASW workers in Cardiff has made a huge difference, even if they have still to recover their full pension values. There needs to be more open regulation of pension funds, as workers are under the mistaken impression that such investments are safe. Did you know for instance that a certain Council pension fund I am aware of in Wales can be used by the employer to invest and any profits from that investment do not go to the pension but the employer? However, any losses have to be paid by the employer- and consequently the employees.

Unions need to be far more pro-active with employee pension funds. If unions spent a little more on training for members to scrutinise their pension funds and a little less on New Labour politicians, then at least their investment would pay dividends.