| British Gas employees threaten strike against new pension scheme |
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Around 5,500 members of the GMB union will vote in the run-up to Christmas on whether they will launch a strike in protest against firm’s plans, which is to close the company's final salary pension scheme to new employees from April 2006.
National officer Brian Strutton said: “I doubt that GMB members will be up for selling off the pension rights of future British Gas engineers and are ready to take industrial action to secure the scheme for everyone for the future.” He mentioned that he had told British Gas of GMB's intention to ballot 5,500 members over the plan.
British Gas though tried to appease present employees stating that the proposed change would have “no impact on current employees.”
Director of home servicing Dave Kendle said: "Any industrial action would be unwarranted and pointless.
The result of the ballot is expected on 25 November. GMB said an unofficial consultative ballot clearly exhibited support for initiation of action in order to protect new employees' pension rights.
Strutton, emphasising the need to thrash out the matter as soon as possible, said: “However, we have offered the company to review the position at the next pension's valuation and that seems to us to be reasonable. … winter is going to be extremely cold then we need to get this sorted out soon.”
Centrica, which is the parent of British Gas, has planned to introduce the new scheme in 2006 which will base pensions on average salary rather than final salary. According to Centrica, the scheme is necessary to protect the long-term future of the pension fund and it will make the engineers fall in line with the rest of the group.
Earlier in 2003, British Gas engineers voted to increase members' contributions by 1 per cent to 5 per cent of their pays so that the final salary scheme would be open for new employees.
Strutton accused Centrica of reneging on that deal. He also claimed support from 85 per cent of its members among British Gas engineers for industrial action against the new scheme.
The GMB also felt that the British Gas should have waited until the next actuarial valuation of the pension fund which was to take place in 2007 before taking a decision.
Posted
on : Tue, 08 Nov 2005 06:45 GMT | Pensions News
By : Pippa Fielding
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