23 May 2024 , 14:56
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Unite union says workers are being ‘fleeced’ by supermarket’s changes to pension contribution rules
Almost 1,000 workers at two Morrisons warehouses will strike for the next three days over a cut in company contributions to their pensions which they say is worth up to £10m a year.
The warehouse stock controllers, cooks, canteen staff, and administrators at the sites in Gadbrook, Cheshire, and Wakefield, West Yorkshire, who earn between £12 and £13 an hour, say they will lose out by an average of £500 a year each from the company’s plan to reduce how much it puts into their pension pot while forcing workers to pay more.
Unite, the union representing the workers, says Morrisons is also ditching a long service pay award and increasing the speed at which goods are expected to be processed in warehouses.
Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, has accused the supermarket – which is struggling to cope with high levels of debt after a £7bn takeover by the US private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice in 2021 – of “planning to fleece workers”.
She said: “These unmerited changes to workers’ pensions will leave our members worse off every month. Unite will not stand for such behaviour from any employer, let alone one like Morrisons who is raking in massive profits during a cost of living crisis.”
Until March, workers paid in 3% of their pay into pensions while Morrisons put in 5%, but Morrisons has moved to a policy of each side paying 4% this financial year.
Morrisons said it would ultimately pay more into workers’ pensions because of the government’s planned changes to pension auto-enrolment rules, and that the loss in pension contributions per worker would be more than offset by the offered pay rise.
At present, workers earning less than £10,000 a year are not automatically enrolled on a pension scheme and companies do not have to pay contributions on earnings below £6,240.
The government has agreed to abolish those limits, meaning all workers may have to be enrolled. However, it has yet to schedule a time for the new rules to be implemented, with a consultation not reporting until the autumn, when its findings will be considered by whichever party wins the election on 4 July.
Morrisons said the two warehouses affected by industrial action were continuing to operate but at “reduced capacity”.
“We have put in place detailed contingency plans across the business and are confident that our customers, stores, suppliers and partners will not be significantly affected,” a spokesperson said, adding that the company was “open to further dialogue with the union”.
They said: “We have made a number of new proposals to Unite, including a 9% pay award, a new service award scheme, and improvements to the planned future pension scheme changes.
“Disappointingly, Unite has chosen to reject these new proposals without putting them to its members, and instead are continuing with strike action at two out of our seven logistics sites, initially over three days.”
The strikes at Morrisons’ depots follow action at hubs operated by Amazon and Asda stores in recent months over pay and conditions, amid a surge in the cost of living and a squeeze on the availability of warehouse workers since Brexit and the pandemic.