Non-motoring > Please consider signing this Petition Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Meldrew Replies: 16
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 08:37 
 Please consider signing this Petition - Meldrew
"Mods - please remove if deemed inappropriate"

Please sign this petition, as we get ready to remember the sacrifice of our Service people. An Army Sergeant is being made redundant 72 hours before becoming entitled to a full pension for his 18 years service. The same page of the same newspaper reports that MoD spent £17,000 on wine at meetings held to discuss personnel cuts!
tinyurl.com/odc6j5l
Change.org
www.change.org

Posted as I am Ex-RAF and nobody has messed with my pension!
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 10:40 
 Please consider signing this Petition - Slidingpillar
I would sign - but the link asks me to make an account with Change.org complete with password. So I didn't.

Government petitions are better, both as effective petitions and the fact you are not pestered. I already get mail from two other petition sites as a result of me supporting an issue and enough is enough
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 11:01 
 Please consider signing this Petition - Meldrew
Apologies - I think tinyurl corrupted the link.Please try this

www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/pm-david-cameron-david-cameron-keep-your-promise-to-our-military-let-my-husband-have-his-pension
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 11:11 
 Please consider signing this Petition - Slidingpillar
Now signed!
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 11:23 
 Please consider signing this Petition - Roger.
I must confess to an interest in this subject as our son-in-law is a REME expert in avionics.
He has about 7 years to go before his pension, which if he gets it on normal retirement will be about £10K per year. Not a huge amount by many standards.
If he is made redundant (always a possibility as he is downgraded medically due to a knee injury and thus will NEVER gain further promotion) he will get a lump sum, but will have to wait until he is of normal pension age to receive his Army pension.
He, as a senior, experienced and very well qualified, hands-on SNCO is relatively expensive for the Army to employ, but thankfully his trade is under-subscribed, so he might be safe.
I have signed the petition!
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 11:48 
 Please consider signing this Petition - Meldrew
I regret that there is no way of signing the petition without saying who you are, presumably to stop it being overwhelmed by misguided supporters multi-voting.
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 11:36 
 Please consider signing this Petition - Manatee
Well I've signed it, but this seems a very bizarre way for pensions to work - not a pension as most people know it.

Leaving a normal job few days earlier than the normal retirement age would usually reduce the accrual (or contributions for a defined contribution scheme) only by that few days worth, which would be negligible.

If we are to say that the armed forced are not to be immune from redundancies, then it sounds to me as if it's the pension arrangements that need revisiting, rather than getting into arguments about whether somebody's redundancy should be deferred artificially - where would you draw the line?
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 11:53 
 Please consider signing this Petition - Meldrew
I regret that the military have a history of devious dealings! In the 70s there was a compulsory redundancy scheme (One got a Blue Letter saying "You are leaving in 6 months") in which it became clear that those selected for redundancy were those who were costing the MOD the most in children's boarding schools fees, and there was nothing to do with competence or efficiency.
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 13:57 
 Please consider signing this Petition - Ambo
An appalling story. Signed.
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 19:49 
 Please consider signing this Petition - No FM2R
If he'd been a year from retirement would that have been ok? What about a month, a week or an hour? What about 2 years? What about 72 1/2 hours?

The 72 hours is emotive nonsense. You have to draw a line somewhere and it'll never be fair to the person who is 1 day outside it.

What is wrong is that redundancy can impact pension eligibility. I'm surprised that it does, but if it does then it shouldn't.

So if someone raises a sensible petition about the interaction of military pensions and redundancy then I will certainly sign it. But I don't think I'll bother with this one.
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 19:56 
 Please consider signing this Petition - Bromptonaut
>> Well I've signed it, but this seems a very bizarre way for pensions to work
>> - not a pension as most people know it.
>>
>> Leaving a normal job few days earlier than the normal retirement age would usually reduce
>> the accrual (or contributions for a defined contribution scheme) only by that few days worth,
>> which would be negligible.
>>

Not read link but I wonder if he's a few hours short of the minimum retirement age.

In the Civil Service scheme that would make the difference between 20 months salary as redundancy pay and an immediate pension, based on years served to leave date, and without actuarial reduction.

A hell of a lot if you work out the cash. In addition any redundancy pay over £30k would be taxable at recipients marginal rate.

Offered the options the pension is a 'no brainer'.

Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Wed 6 Nov 13 at 19:59
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 20:02 
 Please consider signing this Petition - sooty123
He's been made redudant at has missed out on the immediate pension point. he will still recieve his presevered pension at 65. I'd be annoyed, who wouldn't and I might well be one that might up like that however he'll still get a lump sum. However they have to draw the line somewhere for an immediate pension.
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 21:08 
 Please consider signing this Petition - Bromptonaut
>> He's been made redudant at has missed out on the immediate pension point. he will
>> still recieve his presevered pension at 65. I'd be annoyed, who wouldn't and I might
>> well be one that might up like that however he'll still get a lump sum.
>> However they have to draw the line somewhere for an immediate pension.

Of course the line has to be drawn somewhere but there also has to be some humanity in treatment of those falling close to the divide. There's at least anecdotal evidence that CS colleagues nearing minimum retirement age have been found short term posts to tide them over until they hit the trigger point.

OTOH it took so long to abolish the last outfit I worked for that one lucky lady got from three years short of the magic number to a few months past it....

Sold up and last seen boarding a plane for Barbados......
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 21:16 
 Please consider signing this Petition - MD
I have supported and indeed do support change.org. I have not been pestered. Most if not all need some consideration, but it can become (not overly) tiresome, but one has to be selective. This particular petition (taken at face value) got my full support at the outset.
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New Wed 6 Nov 13 21:20 
 Please consider signing this Petition - sooty123
>> >> He's been made redudant at has missed out on the immediate pension point. he
>> will
>> >> still recieve his presevered pension at 65. I'd be annoyed, who wouldn't and I
>> might
>> >> well be one that might up like that however he'll still get a lump
>> sum.
>> >> However they have to draw the line somewhere for an immediate pension.
>>
>> Of course the line has to be drawn somewhere but there also has to be
>> some humanity in treatment of those falling close to the divide. There's at least anecdotal
>> evidence that CS colleagues nearing minimum retirement age have been found short term posts to
>> tide them over until they hit the trigger point.
>>
>> OTOH it took so long to abolish the last outfit I worked for that one
>> lucky lady got from three years short of the magic number to a few months
>> past it....
>>
>> Sold up and last seen boarding a plane for Barbados......
>>

Of course I have the upmost sypathy, someone I used to work with on that round of redundancy was a couple of months short and he was gutted. He also like the bloke was not a volunteer and there would have been volunteers for redudancy that didn't get it. And as I said it may well be me next time. However whatever the date there will be someone who will lose out by a small amount.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Wed 6 Nov 13 at 21:21
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New Fri 8 Nov 13 09:51 
 Please consider signing this Petition - henry k
From his wife.

"After months of worry it is a huge relief to finally hear my husband will receive his pension.

I first raised my fears in the media in June but it wasn't until my petition on Change.org that the Ministry of Defence said Michael's transfer request will also stall his redundancy."

100K plus signed.

I have not seen any reports of this in the press.
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New Fri 8 Nov 13 10:06 
 Please consider signing this Petition - Cliff Pope
We have a long and dishonorable history in this country of mean-spirited treatment of redundant soldiers. Kipling's lines are still apposite:

O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
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