22nd Nov 2016 09:54
LONDON (Alliance News) - Workers at UK drinks giant Diageo PLC have voted to take industrial action over plans to slash their pensions, according to trade union Unite.
Unite said its members voted by an overwhelming majority for industrial action, with 82% of members voting in favour of industrial action short of a strike and 77% in favour of strike action.
According to Unite, Diageo plans to change its pensions scheme into a career average scheme which is worth "much less" to members. It also plans to close the Diageo Lifestyle Plan to new employees and replace it with a new defined-contribution scheme.
"No-one takes industrial action lightly ? especially with Christmas coming up ? but Diageo is behaving like Scrooge," Unite regional officer Pat McIlvogue said in a statement.
"This is a company that is rolling in cash. Diageo's Chief Executive Ivan Menezes received GBP3.8 million in total payments from the company in 2015 ? including GBP424,000 in pension contributions," he added.
"This is corporate avarice on a scale that even Charles Dickens couldn't imagine. But this isn't the Victorian era, and our members will stand together in the face of this corporate greed. We will support them to make sure they get fairness and their promised pension rewards," McIlvogue said.
Unite said Diageo's sites in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Runcorn in Cheshire could be affected by the dispute, adding that members of GMB union also voted in favour of industrial action.
Diageo made no immediate statement about the threatened strike action.
Shares in Diageo were trading down 0.3% at 1,998.61 pence on Tuesday.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Diageo