Deal secures pensions

A settlement worth several million pounds has been secured for former Visteon workers who lost part of their pensions after the company went into administration.

An agreement was reached by the Unite general union and the company’s former owner Ford, after a long legal battle, years of protests and a high-profile public campaign.

The legal action was launched by Unite in 2009 after Visteon went into administration with around 1,200 workers at Basildon, Enfield, Belfast and Swansea losing their jobs.

The former Ford workers claimed that they had been promised equal pay, pensions and redundancy rights when they were transferred over to Visteon in 2000, but initially only received reduced redundancy payments and half of their pension entitlement.

The settlement received overwhelming support from all eligible ex-Visteon workers who had agreed to be party to the action.

Unite director of legal services Howard Beckett said: “The union was prepared to spend millions and campaign for years in order to reach a fair settlement with Ford on behalf of its members.”

Beckett paid tribute to the role played by the union convenors, activists and members, and stressed the value of being in a union when only “a tiny fraction of wealthy individuals could afford this sort of legal support”.

The settlement was also welcomed by the cross-party group of MPs that supported the campaign. The deal will cover the period up to 2000 when the workers were employed at Ford.

www.unitetheunion.org/news/workers-successfully-conclude-their-pensions-campaign