UNILEVER IS set to bring in less generous pension arrangements in July, after a seven-month standoff with workers that saw the Anglo-Dutch multinational suffer its first nationwide strikes.
The move comes after the maker of Dove shampoo and Flora margarine sweetened terms during last-ditch talks with unions last month. The unions, irked at the closure of the final salary pension scheme and less generous terms offered by its replacement, staged strikes across the UK in December and January.
Unilever was following its UK-listed peers in calling time on the final salary pension scheme – in January, Royal Dutch Shell became the last FTSE 100 company to close its scheme to new members. However, Unilever’s new terms were less draconian than those offered by many others.
After protracted negotiations and a fresh round of talks with the conciliation service Acas, all but one of the three unions representing Unilever workers in the UK has agreed to the new terms.
“It was a very hard decision, clearly, because we were not successful in retaining the final salary scheme,” said Jennie Formby, national officer for Unite. “However we did get significant improvements.” The company, which suffered scant damage from the strikes owing to stockpiling, welcomed the ballot decisions by Unite and Usdaw. The unions represent 92 per cent of the unionised workforce. GMB, representing the remainder, is expected to deliver the results of its ballot next week. However, with the vast majority of union members in agreement, along with the fund’s trustees, Unilever is pressing ahead with the new arrangements from July 1st.
Unite said concessions brought in as a result of the latest round of talks include a moratorium on further changes until 2018; pledges that any changes will entail consultation; and an undertaking there will be no unilateral changes to indices to measure payments.
Larger changes unveiled in October meant an additional 500 members of the existing final salary pension scheme would be covered by a payment based on career average salary, as the upper limit was lifted from £41,000 to £48,000.
Unilever, which employs about 7,000 in the UK, announced plans to close its final salary pension scheme last April. The consultation was due to close in September but union representatives walked out of a consultation session.
Unilever has dubbed the final salary pension scheme a “broken model” and said it is unsustainable. Unions, pointing to Unilever’s profitability and executive pay, have accused the company of acting “arrogantly”.
– (Copyright the Financial Times Limited 2012)
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