We've won pensions fight before - we can win again

Louise Nousatpour in Southport
Thursday June 09, 2011
The Morning Star

Community conference: Tata Steel workers have vowed to stand together and fight off the company's plans to cut back on their pension rights, raising the prospect of industrial action.

In a range of motions on pensions on Wednesday, Community conference delegates condemned government plans to raise the retirement age.

Tata Steel's predecessor Corus announced in 2009 that it was to close its final-salary scheme to new members, but the union successfully fought off the plans by threatening strike action.

During the debate on Wednesday, executive committee member Pete Hobson reminded Tata of that campaign, suggesting that the union was prepared to take action if employers took steps toward diluting the British Steel Pension Scheme.

He dismissed management claims about a pension deficit as "scaremongering" and said: "We fended the plans off last time with the threat of industrial action and union campaign.

"We will allocate all the necessary resources to campaign to safeguard the scheme again."

Delegates cheered on Scunthorpe delegate Paul McBean as he warned the government: "It's not your pension to attack, it's ours. Threaten it at your own peril - you will lose."

Conference also promised to resist plans to raise the retirement age to 67, noting that life expectancy among heavy industry workers is years shorter than the average office staff and in the wealthier sections of society.

Teesside delegate Adrian Cook said: "In the steel industry there is no succession plans to deal with an ageing workforce, which means older workers will have to continue to do long hours of dangerous and physically demanding work.

"Any lapse in concentration could lead to serious injuries - or worse, fatalities."

Lackenby delegate Jacue Hatfield, a Tata employee for more than 30 years, noted that on average shift workers die 12 years earlier than those who work regular hours.

"First, Tata raised our retirement age from 50 to 55 and now the government wants to change it to 67. This is unacceptable," he said and urged the union to work with the TUC and lobby MPs to fight the plans.