ITN Pension Cut Prompts Strike Ballot

Bectu have announced that union members at news provider ITN are balloting for strike action to protect their pension rights.
At a meeting near ITN's London HQ today, November 30, members of Bectu, NUJ, and Amicus, called for a strike vote after hearing that the management's current proposals for pension changes were a final offer.
Negotiators had hoped that controversial plans to change pension benefits, including an increase in retirement age from 60 to 65, might be altered during top-level talks with the company at Acas.
ITN, however, warned that no further concessions would be made by the company if the talks went ahead, and the Acas summit was cancelled.
Bectu will be sending out voting papers to members on December 8, after the statutory 7 days' notice to the company. The ballot closes on December 22, leaving members free to take strike action from December 30 onwards.
Discussions on pensions have been underway at ITN for several months, with the company insisting it must make savings on its annual employer's contribution to its final-salary pension scheme.
Changes proposed in the 'final offer' package are the increase in retirement age, a 2.5% cap on inflation increases that current staff will receive when they retire, and a reduction in the accrual rate from 1/50th to 1/60th for each year of service.
Managers hope that the new benefits package will cut ITN's pension contributions by 8.5% of its paybill each year, with almost two-thirds of the saving coming from the increase in retirement age.
(DS)