Visteon workers fight on
Freedom Press | 13.01.2010 06:08 | Other Press | Social Struggles | Workers' Movements
Workers at the car part manufacturers who won a momentous battle for redundancy payment from Ford motor giants last year are still locked in a bitter dispute with their ex-employers over money owed through the pension fund after the collapse of Visteon UK.
Visteon Pension Action Group protest at Bridgend, S Wales
Visteon UK, formerly the main car parts supplier to Ford, went into administration on 31st March 2009 sacking its entire workforce, around 560 people, without notice. The workers immediately responded by occupying the three factories in Belfast, Basildon and Enfield, and when evicted mounted a 24 hour-a-day picket to prevent the administrators stripping the plants of machinery, components and finished parts.
After a month of intensive struggle by the sacked workers, supported by anarchists, many of whom were instrumental in organising the Ford-Visteon Workers Support Group in Enfield, Ford bosses capitulated and agreed to honour its obligations with an improved redundancy package, but excluded any provision for the pension fund. A pension action group was established, which now has over 800 members, to continue the fight for what is owed to the workers.
Visteon was created in 2000 by Ford as a ’spin-off’ company with the promise of a job for life for all Visteon employees as well as assurances that they would continue to match the terms and conditions of Ford workers, with the same pension provisions.
Steve Sharpe, co-chair of the Visteon Pension Action Group (VPAG), which has coordinated a series of protests to demand their full pension entitlement from Ford said: “It’s not unusual to move manufacturing outside of the UK to reduce costs, but unfortunately they didn’t just shut the manufacturing plant down, they shut the whole company down. We’re all fighting like crazy because when we split off from Ford we were promised mirrored terms and conditions, including our pension.”
The dispute also affects workers from another Ford spin-off company based in Swansea, which was bought out by Linamar in 2007 and is still in operation. In total some 3,000 former Visteon workers, including 700 from the Swansea plant, face massive cuts to their pensions.
Andy Belch, a Visteon pensioner and former worker at the Basildon plant, said: “I worked for 38 years as a Ford employee and paid into the pension fund every day. I had only three months in Visteon scheme. Now my pension will now reduce by around 42%, without future rises, despite commitments made by Ford to employees and unions at spin off to protect my pension.”
article continues here:
http://www.freedompress.org.uk/news/2010/01/13/visteon-workers-fight-on/
After a month of intensive struggle by the sacked workers, supported by anarchists, many of whom were instrumental in organising the Ford-Visteon Workers Support Group in Enfield, Ford bosses capitulated and agreed to honour its obligations with an improved redundancy package, but excluded any provision for the pension fund. A pension action group was established, which now has over 800 members, to continue the fight for what is owed to the workers.
Visteon was created in 2000 by Ford as a ’spin-off’ company with the promise of a job for life for all Visteon employees as well as assurances that they would continue to match the terms and conditions of Ford workers, with the same pension provisions.
Steve Sharpe, co-chair of the Visteon Pension Action Group (VPAG), which has coordinated a series of protests to demand their full pension entitlement from Ford said: “It’s not unusual to move manufacturing outside of the UK to reduce costs, but unfortunately they didn’t just shut the manufacturing plant down, they shut the whole company down. We’re all fighting like crazy because when we split off from Ford we were promised mirrored terms and conditions, including our pension.”
The dispute also affects workers from another Ford spin-off company based in Swansea, which was bought out by Linamar in 2007 and is still in operation. In total some 3,000 former Visteon workers, including 700 from the Swansea plant, face massive cuts to their pensions.
Andy Belch, a Visteon pensioner and former worker at the Basildon plant, said: “I worked for 38 years as a Ford employee and paid into the pension fund every day. I had only three months in Visteon scheme. Now my pension will now reduce by around 42%, without future rises, despite commitments made by Ford to employees and unions at spin off to protect my pension.”
article continues here:
http://www.freedompress.org.uk/news/2010/01/13/visteon-workers-fight-on/
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