Thank you for continuing to share this petition with your FaceBook, Twitter & email friends etc. As we approach 500 signatures, I’m sorry to have to share with you that both the UK Government and Charity Commission have effectively declared that the Salvation Army is rightly a law unto itself in deciding to continue denying its former officers a pension! See below for an extract from the response from the Cabinet Office.  The Salvation Army in the UK appears to have no conscience to correct its unethical behaviour and put an end to its exploitation of its workers. Instead the Salvation Army chooses to use a loophole through its charitable status to exploit its former officers/ministers (who have resigned or left for whatever reason) by denying them a pension. Officers, along with other ministers of religion, do not have employment status, but are regarded as office holders, ‘employed by God”. They have no form of legal protection. The Government clearly has more confidence in the charity trustees than I do and doesn’t seem bothered that the trustees are deeply compromised by the fact that, as Salvation Army officers themselves, they will all personally become beneficiaries of the Salvation Army Officers Pension Fund charity in due course! Unlike those who resign before retirement age, the trustees will all receive a pension and subsidised accommodation. This official support for exploitation is undermining the wonderful work which takes place at grass roots level through this cherished organisation. The Royal Mint has issued a special £5 coin to “celebrate 150 years of tireless work by Salvationists past and present, bringing hope, alleviating suffering and transforming lives”. Apparently “the Salvation Army remains as committed and relevant today, fighting social injustice in whatever form it takes”. I suggest there is another side to the ‘coin’ which means the Salvation Army is very reluctant to face up to its own propagation of social injustice through its discriminatory and unjust actions towards former officers. We need to create much greater public awareness if change is to take place. Please help to swell the powerful voice of public opinion to bring an end to this cruel injustice. The situation in the USA is also a cause for concern. There the Salvation Army uses its status as a church to deny most of its 64,000 employees unemployment and COBRA benefits. (Similar to National Insurance in the UK). Please take time to read, sign and share this petition too, calling on The Salvation Army in America to no longer use the status of “church” as an excuse for diminished worker protections. https://www.change.org/p/stop-using-church-to-revoke-rights-for-64-000-employees Among the almost 200 powerful comments on my own petition are these recently added ones: “Discrimination currently practiced by the Salvation Army is entirely unacceptable” “The pain of leaving doesn’t need to be compounded with punishment” “The only army in the world which kicks its own wounded to death” “I’m really surprised to hear of the bad practice at the heart of one of the largest champions of the exploited we have” Perhaps you or someone you know might wish to help in this campaign. If so, do get in touch. Above all, please keep sharing this petition and encourage others to sign. Philip Mountain philip.mountain@talktalk.net https://www.change.org/p/salvation-army-stop-mistreating-your-officers-ministers-they-all-deserve-a-pension-not-just-those-who-remain-as-officers-until-retirement Response from Cabinet Office 08.05.15: "I am afraid there is nothing more I can add to the replies that you have already received on this matter. The independence of charities and their trustees to run their charity in the way that they see fit is one of the cornerstones of charity law in England and Wales. Trustees have broad discretion provided they act within the law and the terms of the charity's governing documents. The way in which the Salvation Army Officers' Pension Fund is governed and the decision not to pay a pension to former officers is a matter for the charity's trustees and not an issue in which Cabinet Office Ministers can become involved."