HEALTH workers in Oxfordshire are threatening to take the Government to court for “illegally breaching” their contracts.

Members of Unison’s Oxfordshire health branch, which has 4,000 members, launched their fight after it was revealed their pensions would be cut.

They are now calling for others to join their battle to take the Government to the High Court.

From next year, public service pensions will rise in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rather than the Retail Price Index (RPI), which is generally higher.

The RPI includes council tax, mortgage interest payments, buildings insurance and house depreciation.

The CPI includes certain financial service charges excluded from the RPI calculation, but it excludes most housing costs.

The Government hopes that the change will save more than £6bn a year by 2015.

The union argues this means pensioners will not only be worse off, but also that the Government has illegally changed the terms of their contracts.

Oxfordshire health branch official Mark Ladbrooke said: “The decision in the Emergency Budget to end uprating of occupational pensions in line with the RPI, which includes housing costs, is a direct breach of contract with millions of retired health worker and those currently paying into the pension scheme.

“For the Government to dump this legal commitment in order to balance the books following the banking crisis is not only morally wrong, but in our view it’s unlawful.”

Fellow union member Ian McKendrick, who works as a staff nurse at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, added: “I think the Government has a cheek attacking public sector pensions as ‘gold-plated’.

“The average NHS pension is under £4,000 a year for women, who make up the bulk of the NHS workforce.

“Not much can be bought with that. Most people will need benefits just to survive in their old age.

“The Government plans to cut the year-on-year pension increases will only make people who have often helped to look after the sick for decades much poorer.

“NHS workers don’t accept wages lower than the private sector and pay into their pension scheme to be abused like this.

“Meanwhile, the rich get tax breaks on their pension funds so they can invest it to ensure their twilight years are spent in luxury.”

Downing Street spokesman Sophie Benger said: “The Budget has been announced. We’ve made our position clear.”