Union leaders representing thousands of nuclear and postal workers across the UK are threatening strike action as employers seek to reduce so called gold-plated final salary pension schemes.
Unions for 16,000 workers at 19 nuclear sites, including in Caithness, face cuts under plans by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to make savings of £660million on the workers’ final salary pension schemes.
Meanwhile, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) threatened to ballot workers after Royal Mail launched a consultation with 90,000 staff over controversial changes to its pension scheme if any “unagreed” alterations are implemented.
Royal Mail has warned that it pays out £400million in pensions contributions each year to maintain the defined benefits schemes that came with the firm when it was privatised in 2013. A review of the scheme – which is currently funded – estimates that pay out will more than double to over £1billion after March 2018, or risk leaving the pension fund in deficit.
The company said: “This increase would not be affordable. It is significantly more than the annual cash Royal Mail generates – around £290million in 2015- 2016.”
In the nuclear sector, the NDA is trying to bring workers pension arrangements in line with other public sector workers. But union leaders at GMB, Unite and Prospect argue that the several among the workforce, many of which are highly skilled, work for private consortia which operate sites on behalf of the NDA and should be paid as such.
Justin Bowden, GMB national officer, said: “There is no justification for this attack on the pensions of these nuclear workers and their communities.
“What the Government are saying is that the privatised site license companies who run these nuclear facilities are in fact public sector organisations and therefore Sellafield, Dounreay and the Magnox sites should go through the same reforms as the rest of the public sector itself.”
The unions will meet next Monday.
A spokesman for the NDA said: “Government policy is that all public sector final salary pensions schemes should reformed by 2018, and four million public sector workers have already moved to new pension arrangements.
“Specific decisions on how to change the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s estate pension schemes have yet to be taken. We expect to begin formal consultation on 9 January 2017.”