Pension funds under threat

EMPLOYERS should be forced to provide pension schemes with defined end benefits to workers under the next national pay agreement the Amicus MSF union argues.

Amicus national secretary John Tierney said that the preservation and enhancement of pension entitlements for workers should form a central part of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) strategy in relation to talks on a new national agreement.

The leader of the 30,000 strong union representing administrative staff, craft workers, technicians, engineers, managers, lecturers and scientists said any further attempts by employers to move away from Defined Benefit (DB) to Defined Contribution (DC) schemes will be resisted by unions in the same way as pay cuts have been resisted over the years. ”We are seeing the beginning of a concerted move by employers to switch from DB to DC schemes. In Britain, a recent survey shows that 225 out of 940 businesses have closed down DB schemes for new members.

”Employers are blaming falling stock markets and new accounting standards for the change. This is an extremely ominous development. Pension schemes are going to become more expensive than they are today and employers want to pay less than they are paying at the moment.”

Mr Tierney said the union movement has fought for decades to maximise the employer contribution to pension funds. These major gains for Irish workers are now under even greater attack than workers' after-tax income with the move away from Defined Benefit schemes.”