By Graham Huband and Brian Allison

THE SCOTTISH Executive “cut the legs” from under thousands of council workers who planned to retire on a full pension at 60, the public sector union Unison said yesterday.

Regional officer John Fair said abolishing the “rule of 85”—entitling employees to retire at 60 if they have completed 25 years’ service—will plunge the plans of up to 200,000 Scots workers into disarray.

The decision was announced on Tuesday by Local Government Minister Tom McCabe in a written parliamentary reply to Socialist MSP Carolyn Leckie.

Mr McCabe said the change is to meet European law.

He said, “The Executive has concluded that retaining the rule would be incompatible with the directive on age discrimination and therefore it will require to be removed from the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with effect from October this year.”

He continued, “It is proposed that protection be provided to those existing scheme members who would satisfy the current rule of 85 and attain age 60 by March 31, 2013.”

The plans will be discussed further with unions, he added.

Mr Fair yesterday contended the change was not required.

He said, “We are really quite concerned to go down this line, although it is not a huge surprise as this is the signal we have been getting from the Scottish Executive for some time now.

“Their argument is they have to make this change to bring them into line with European legislation.

“Our very clear legal advice is there is no requirement for them to do that.

“This affects people getting to the point of planning retirement.

“All of a sudden the legs have been cut out from underneath them.”

Willie Gowans, trade union convener at the city council’s direct labour organisation Dundee Contract Services, hit out at the Executive’s handling of the matter.

He questioned how the rule of 85 could be deemed discriminatory for local government employees when it will still apply to other public sector workers.

“If it is age discrimination for one group of workers then it must be the same for everyone,” he said.

“I think there will be a huge backlash from the trade unions about this and it could lead to industrial action.”

Mr Gowans said it was misleading to talk about people retiring early on full pension, implying they were receiving the same as if they had worked until 65.

He said, “They only get what they are entitled to up to the age of 60.”

Mr Gowans said there is particular concern in Dundee Contract Services, where a number of employees are around the 60 mark.

A Dundee City Council spokesperson said yesterday, “The council will be looking at this in due course.”