UK Edition
Capita staff to stage nine-day strike over pensions
Staff at Capita are planning to stage a nine-day strike over pension terms after talks between the company and the union broke down.
Union Unite said on Monday that last minute talks with mediation firm Acas had failed, and so staff represented by the union would be walking out between October 28 and November 5.
The dispute centres around proposed changes to Capita’s pension scheme, which would see around 4pc of its workers transferred from the current defined benefit, or final salary, plan to a defined contribution scheme, where there are no guarantees over the level of income paid in retirement.
Unite claims staff in the scheme will suffer a “massive cut” in their retirement income as a result of the proposals.
However, Capita said its current pensions plan was unsustainable in the long term, and that it had put forward a “competitive offer” for its workers, which has not been accepted by Unite’s members.
Although Capita said it made “material improvements” to its offer last week, Unite said the changes did not go far enough, and it was concerned that agreeing to the terms would “open the door to further attacks on the other company pension arrangements”.
The strikes will affect workers in Capita’s contracts with firms such as Prudential, Royal London and Friends Life. Unite members had voted 95pc in favour of a walk-out last month, with 72pc of members turning out to vote.
Dominic Hook, Unite national officer, said: “Capita’s pension proposals will have far reaching consequences for the retirement of many Unite members. Some staff will lose a shocking 70pc of their retirement income.
“There is no justification for highly profitable Capita to treat its workforce in this manner.”
Capita said it would be working with its clients to minimise disruption from the strikes.
Vic Gysin, group operations and performance director at Capita, said: “Unite’s decision on behalf of its members is unreasonable and clearly disadvantages our affected employees.”