Unrest as Arnotts plans to wind up pension scheme
Trustees are due to hold three briefing sessions with the almost 1,000 people who are part of the scheme. About 300 existing pensio-ners’ entitlements will be protected.
However, deferred pensioners — former Arnotts staff — and 300 existing staff could, according to John Douglas, Mandate general secretary, lose “upwards of 50% of their entitlements”.
A number of the workers have up to 35 years’ service and are close to retirement.
Mr Douglas said the union and Arnotts had been in talks for 12 months. He said Arnotts did not have the money to put into the defined benefit scheme.
“We recognise that.
“We came up with a plan which was basically to freeze the pension scheme and introduce a new pension scheme from a new date onward.
“Seemingly the trustees were in contact with the Pensions Board and the Pensions Board have told them that is not an option and they have now decided to wind up the scheme completely.”
He said Arnotts management were on record as saying it would not be in the best interests of the pension scheme to have a firesale of assets and to wind up.
“They were adverse to winding up the scheme,” he said, adding it had €130m worth of assets and the deficit of €3m was not “huge”.
“We are asking the trustees to put the wind-up on hold. We will be going to the company and asking them what they intend to do. We had an understanding with the company and if they do not honour that understanding, then it will become an industrial relations issue.”
