Aslef General Secretary, Keith Norman told the meeting: "Four rail union general secretaries are sat together at one table tonight, united on this issue. We are going to ensure that your future is protected."

As Keith explained, rail employers are planning to increase employee contributions to the rail industry occupational pension scheme to unsustainable levels, at the same time as reducing benefits to retired railworkers. As Keith said: "We are just not having that."

Rail unions have written jointly to Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair Darling warning him that from July 1, 2006 employee contributions will automatically increase under rules designed to keep the final salary schemes solvent. Some railworkers are threatened with an employee contribution rate as high as 21% of their earnings at the same time rail industry employers, such as Network Rail are already seeking reductions in benefits for retired staff.

Gerry Docherty, General Secretary of the Transport Salaried Staff Association pointed out actuarial valuations used by pensions advisors are based on figures from December 2004 and include new assumptions about lifespan, which exaggerate problems facing railway final salary pensions. The value of the current assets in the scheme Gerry informed the meeting are £13.4 billion, which increased from £8 billion at the time of privatisation in 1995. To put that in context, when the Tory government privatised British Rail in the great railways rip-off the exchequer received about £2 billion from disposal of the assets.

Gerry told the meeting: "The people who privatised the railways have got the smell of your pensions in their nostrils. The only way that we will stop them is if we are prepared to take action."

The rail unions have put forward a simple workable alternative to managed decline of the Railway Pension Scheme. The unions are calling for employee contributions to be capped at 10.56% of their salary, pension benefits to be maintained at current levels, the scheme to be simplified by reducing from 103 at present to 3 the number of sections thus reducing the enormous administrative costs brought about when the scheme was fragmented at the time of rail privatisation and for the Railway Pension Scheme to be open to all employees in the rail industry.

But by not talking collectively to rail unions, employers are seeking to exploit solvency rules to compel decline and gradual closure of the final salary pension schemes. The rail unions are demanding Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair Darling instruct rail employers to get round the negotiating table instead of hiding from their responsibilities, but to date the government has failed to take any action.

Brian Godsill, from the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions linked government inaction over the Railway Pension Scheme with recent attacks on local government workers, teachers and civil service pensions and reminded the meeting that the rail unions want to improve pension schemes, not just to stand still.

RMT General Secretary, Bob Crow remarked on the unprecedented level of unity shown by the rail unions on the issue of pensions. He warned: "There have been 125 years of differences between railworkers? unions. Unless we stand together to defend the pensions we inherited, then we won?t last another 125 years. In 25 years time people will look back and ask us what the hell we thought we were doing while the employers were allowed to walk away from their responsibilities."

Bob reminded the meeting that Aneurin Bevan in 1946-7 created a health service free at the point of use from the cradle to the grave. The rail unions today are demanding universal provision of pension rights in the rail industry, which is fair and affordable. Bob said: "We will not allow ministers, employers or anyone else to divide us in our determination to win a secure future in retirement for all railworkers. We want to get round the table and negotiate, but unless employers agree to negotiate we will call coordinated and united ballots for strike action across all four rail unions. July 1 is endgame."

Rail union leaders are holding a series of meetings around Britain as part of the united campaign to defend railway pensions: 21 March York, 28 March Glasgow, 29 March Edinburgh, 3 April Birmingham, 5 April Bristol, 10 April Perth (at STUC), 19 April Manchester and 20 April London. Further details available from rail union offices.