Unite has lodged High Court action against the Ford Motor Company over the pension rights of employees who transferred to Visteon UK and subsequently lost their jobs and some of their pensions after Visteon UK went into administration.
Unite’s lawyers are to seek compensation from Ford for allegedly providing ‘misleading’ advice to employees who transferred to Visteon UK, after Unite announced plans to take legal action in July 2010.
Employees were transferred to Visteon UK in 2000, and had to decide whether to leave their accrued pension benefits in the Ford pension scheme, or to transfer to the Visteon pension scheme.
Unite says the information provided to employees during the transfer led them to believe their pensions would be safe. In 2009, 610 workers lost their jobs and some of their pension when Visteon went into administration.
Those employees will get pension protection fund (PPF) level benefits for any accrued Ford pension rights that they transferred, and for their accrued Visteon UK pension plan rights.
Unite National Officer - Roger Maddison
Roger Maddison, Unite National Officer, said: “The fight for pensions’ justice begins in the high court. Unite believes Ford has a legal and a moral obligation to the thousands of ex-employees who paid into its pension scheme all their working lives believing this would provide a financially secure pension in retirement.
“Ford has announced $8 billion in profits, it will take a fraction of this to give the men and women who lost part of their pensions justice.
“Hundreds of workers, many of them close to retirement, were sacked at very short notice and lost large parts of their pensions.
“We believe Ford misled many of these workers leading them to believe their pensions were safe with Visteon.
“Ford failed to clearly set out the risks associated with transferring the assets staff had built up with Ford – now many of these workers face vastly reduced pensions”.
Former Visteon employees in protest to make Ford honour its £350 million pension obligations
Excellent blog, Tony. Would you mind if I refer your readers to my blog which has several pieces about the Visteon Pension Action Group and their own website http://www.visteonpensionactiongroup.co.uk which has lots of information on and the history of this injustice. I know I can speak for my friends in #VPAG when I say how grateful they are to the Unite union and Roger Maddison in particular for all their support.
Thanks for the feedback! I will add your website to my listing as a recommended site!
I am one of those pensioners who believed Fords when they said Vistion pensioners had mirrored terms and protection on their pension for life! It was also stated in the E W C agreement! form their beginning Visteon would not allow New Visteon employees to join our pension fund, “so in effect they closed it! and prevented it from being on going “, They then used it as a tool to shed the Ford contracted Labour into early retirement, Knowing that the pension wasn’t fully funded!
It was a well orchestrated plan to shed British manufacturing plants and buying cheaper from Easter country’s who have no human rights! cheap labour and no health and safety!
“And now Fords Profits is proof of this cunning plan that had no regards for their ex-loyal workers!”