Pension erosion is a ‘wage cut’

THE erosion of workers’ pension benefits by employers represents an “invisible” wage cut of 10% to 20%, according to Jerry Shanahan, national secretary of Amicus.

Mr Shanahan said the proposed review of pension policy in Towards 2016 is vital to tackling the emerging pensions crisis and is one of the reasons why his union has decided to back the new agreement.

“If employers are not contributing or have ceased contributing to pension schemes — in most cases the contributions would be 10%-20% — then this represents an ‘invisible’ wage cut of that order,” he said.