Workers at the Pot Noodle factory in Crumlin are set to go on strike next week over a pension dispute with employers Unilever.
The company wants to end its final salary scheme. Unite, Usdaw and GMB unions say the move will cut retirement income for staff by up to 40%. They have called strikes at different sites for 12 days from Monday January 17.
Allan Black, national officer of the GMB said: “Unilever need to get the message that profitable companies will not be allowed to walk away from their savings commitments to their loyal workforce.”
Unilever has issued a statement saying: “Whilst we fully respect the right of our employees to protest about the changes we are planning to make to our UK pensions arrangements, we remain deeply concerned by the disproportionate action the trade unions are taking.
“This was a tough but necessary choice which reflects the realities of rising life expectancy and increased market volatility.
“We believe the provision of final salary pensions is a broken model which is no longer appropriate for Unilever.
“It is our responsibility to protect the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of our business, and to do so is in the best interests of our people.”
Around 200 people are employed at Crumlin, producing 155 million Pot Noodles a year.
The provision of a final salary pension used to be an indicator of a 'World Class Company'. Sadly this is no longer the case. I saw my pension greatly diminish as a result of my previous company's wish to take advantage of the political climate and increase profits.
The often trotted out line is that "people are living longer". In general terms this is correct but not in the particular case of industrial shift workers, with whom I have been privileged to spend my working life. The retreat from final salary has more to do with the Labour Party's removal of tax breaks for company pensions in 1997 and the greed of firms run by accountants.
In the meantime the politicians at Westminster, Cardiff, Edinburgh and many other places revel in their top class pension schemes paid for by hard working people, on low wages, with short life expectancy and the prospect of a minimal pension.
I don’t hear many politicians giving voice the legitimate concerns of the people who, after decades of paying into company schemes, will suddenly find their pension reduced, the age at which they can claim state pension increased and the prospect of their sons and daughters receiving a reasonable pension being a ‘pie in the sky’.
This is a short sighted attitude by our political masters as retired people with money to spend provide employment and income for the generations that follow. Politicians should beware; those of us with grey hair have a vote and, unlike many of the young victims of their crackpot policies, are prepared to use it.