Usdaw take CARE on Unilever pension

Members of Usdaw at the soap to margarine manufacturers Unilever have reluctantly agreed to changes in the company pension scheme.

Workers have been in dispute over their pension scheme for several years. In May 2011, management announced that they were closing the final salary scheme altogether and replacing it with a Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) scheme. Usdaw, one of the three unions at Unilever, says it will mean workers losing an average of 20% of their projected retirement income.

The changes led to the first ever national strikes with members of Usdaw, Unite and the GMB taking action. In February, Unilever agreed to make a number of significant improvements to the CARE scheme after which Unite members voted to accept the offer. Usdaw members have now followed suit.

Usdaw national officer David Johnson said: “While we have achieved some important improvements to the replacement scheme, our members remain angry and bitterly disappointed by Unilever’s decision to close the final salary pension scheme.”