Women from West Lothian who are fighting against the rise in the state pension age made their voices heard at a protest this week.
Members of WASPI (Women Against State Pension Injustice) Scotland dressed as suffragettes and held a demonstration in Livingston on Tuesday.
They say 3.8million women across the UK have been affected by the rise to state pension age from 60 up to 66 with little or no notice, experiencing losses of up to £48,000 in expected pension income.
A hearing in the Court of Appeal this week will have far-reaching implications for the women in West Lothian born in the 1950s.
Carla O’Hara, coordinator of Waspi West Lothian, said: “We really hope that this time 1950s women will get the justice they deserve.
“We have been treated very unfairly.
“We paid into the National Insurance fund for decades, only to be told at the last minute that we would have to wait six more years for the pensions they were relying on from age 60.
“This will be the first time that some of these women will have been out since lockdown and many in the group are still shielding or are at work, as so many are front line staff, in the NHS, caring, hospitality and retail industries.
“They have been fighting this for years now. We have been keeping in lockdown contact by Zoom, WhatsApp and Facebook.”
The group has branches throughout Scotland and is affiliated to the WASPI Campaign 2018 and have been actively campaigning for the last five years.
They say those women and - now also men - born after 1955 have already been badly hit by the rise in state pension age which has reached 66, working on in onerous work or being forced into claiming working age benefits such as Universal credit.
And campaigners said the hearing this week is crucial for women in West Lothian who have been denied up to six years of the state pensions they paid into throughout their working lives.
For more information contact waspiwestlothian@gmail.com or follow Waspi West Lothian on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/194802271650122
More details and information can be found here on www.waspiscotland.uk or at www.waspicampaign2018.co.uk.
