On Wednesday, June 29th, Gerald Jones MP joined women from across the country at a demonstration outside the Palace of Westminster in support of women hit by the acceleration of the equalisation of the State Pension Age, a change which began in 1995 and was compounded in 2011.
The campaigners also met MPs inside the Palace in order to secure their support for the campaign.
As well as attending the protest, Gerald and the Local Assembly member Dawn Bowden AM also held a coffee evening at Theatr Soar in Merthyr Town centre a few weeks ago. The evening was an opportunity to find out more about changes to Womens pensions and offer a chance to sign a petition to be handed in to Parliament.
In Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, according to the independent House of Commons Library, around 3,170 women are directly affected by the 2011 Pensions Act alone. 144 Local residents signed the e-petition calling for transitional arrangements, which received almost 200,000 signatures nationwide.
The Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign works to lobby the Government to introduce transitional arrangements for those women affected, some of whom were not notified about the changes, and took early retirement, leaving them without any income.
Speaking following the protest, Gerald said:
“We want to get the best outcome for these women, many of whom have worked hard for decades. I am therefore proud to join them at their demonstration in Westminster today. This is a campaign for fairness and deserves to be supported.”
“I would like to ask anyone who thinks they may be affected by these changes to contact my office on 01685 383739 to find out more.”