Workers at the firm yesterday (November 28) voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of the move, which would be the first national strike in Unilever’s history.
About 85% of members at Unite the Union voted for strike action, which is likely to take place across Unilever’s 12 UK sites during December.
In addition, members of the GMB union also voted three to one in favour of the move, which will see between 2,300 and 2,500 walk out on the Hellman’s mayonnaise and Pot Noodle producer.
Thousands of pounds
Jennie Formby, Unite national officer, said: “Our members have spoken and, while the decision to strike was not an easy one, the message is clear: they will not roll over and accept this attack on their pension scheme. Unilever must now do the decent thing for its loyal workforce and get back around the negotiating table.
“Unilever is betraying the very staff who have worked tirelessly over decades to make it the hugely successful and profitable global giant it is today. Our members now face losing thousands of pounds in retirement, while the directors earn millions in bonuses and share options.”
Unilever is ploughing ahead with its plans to ditch the firm’s final salary pension scheme, which will see the income of thousands of staff slashed by 40%, according to Unite.
Unilever defended its decision however, claiming that pension arrangements had to reflect “today’s realities”. As a result, the firm said that final salary pensions are now “no longer viable”.
A spokesman for Unilever said: “We are very disappointed that Unilever employees who are members of Unite, Usdaw and GMB, have voted in favour of strike action.
“We fully understand the strength of feeling prompted by our decision to close our final salary plan. However, it was based on a belief that making tough choices, including changing our existing pension arrangements, is the right thing to do for our business and our 7,000 people to help ensure Unilever’s long-term competitiveness in the UK.”
Consultation process
Unite has also accused the firm of cutting the Unions out of consultations when workers’ representatives would not accept the closure of the scheme.
Unilever has refuted these claims, however, and insisted that the Unions chose to withdraw from the consultation process and did not re-join “despite a number of invitations to do so”.
“While we fully respect the Union’s right to take industrial action, we believe the significant changes we have already made underscore the value and legitimacy of the process we concluded in early October,” the firm added.
Unilever now plans to transfer current final salary scheme members to a Care Average Revalued Earning (CARE) from July 1 next year.
The unions have described the CARE scheme as “inferior” and have strongly urged management to discuss an agreeable alternative.
Allan Black, GMB national officer, said: “This strike vote demonstrates that pensions are not just a matter of concern for public sector workers as the concerns are shared by workers in the private sector too.
The vote also shows that ordinary workers will not stand idly by to watch profitable employers like Unilever jumping on the pensions robbery bandwagon.
“There will now be a meeting with my trade union colleagues to fix dates for strike action,” he added. “The first date will be before Christmas.”
Meanwhile, about 2M public sector workers are set to walk out tomorrow over similar pensions reforms, which come as part of measures taken by the coalition designed to cut Britain’s budget deficit.
Teachers, bus and train drivers and health workers, along with many more public service workers, are planning to take part in the action, which is expected to cause serious upheaval right across the UK.