Glass actions

About 440 Unite members at Ardagh Glass in Barnsley have been balloted for strike action over management’s plans to close the defined benefit pension scheme and replace it with a defined contribution (DC) scheme.

Currently the company contributes 25.9% to the defined benefit scheme and members 3%, 6% or 9% depending on circumstances. In the new auto-enrolment scheme, workers would pay 4%, matched by the company.

Unite deputy regional secretary Tas Sangha said that if the change goes ahead “the employer would save £3 million a year, which is money being directly picked from our members’ pockets”.

Earlier this month talks were held between Unite and glass manufacturer Pilkington at the conciliation service Acas over a dispute involving 130 workers at its King’s Norton site being paid £3,000 a year less than workers at the company’s Redditch site.

In June, GMB members at Saint-Gobain Isover in Runcorn were also in dispute over pay.

www.unitetheunion.org/news/yorkshire-glass-workers-ballot-for-strike-action-over-threat-of-pensioner-poverty

www.unitetheunion.org/news/acas-talks-in-pilkington-3000-a-year-pay-disparity-dispute

www.gmbnorthwest.co.uk/news/gmb-members-saint-gobain-isover-runcorn-set-strike-over-pay/GMB-trade-union