UK -- The UK’s trade union grouping, the TUC, says that it is unhappy with Tuesday's announcement by trade and industry secretary Patricia Hewitt that British workers can no longer be forced to retire before 65.

“Unions oppose age discrimination and back the EU directive that requires the UK government to end age-based retirement policies,” says TUC deputy general secretary Frances O’Grady. “But equally we do not want to see new rules used as a Trojan horse to promote 'work til you' drop policies. New rules should extend choice, so that people have more say about when they can retire.”

O’Grady added: “We still do not have a clear date for ending age-based retirement policies as the directive requires. While we recognise there is a case for some transitional arrangements, the government has neither given business any certainty about when the UK will meet its EU obligations nor given employees any assurance that there will be new rights that will extend retirement choice in practice.”

“The right to request to work past 65 is welcome in theory, but in practice we are concerned that employers will find it too easy to say no, and the UK workforce needs a guarantee that no employee will lose out on pension arrangements as a result of these changes,” he says.

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