08 October 2007
The union Unite issued the following press release on the 5th of
October:
"Citizens Advice staff devastated by pension scheme closure
Unite, the UK's largest union, is urging Citizens Advice to find
an alternative solution following the organisation's announcement
that it is to close the final salary pension scheme to existing and
future employees.
The proposals, which will affect 277 of the organisation's
employees and 92 London CAB staff, advocate replacing pension
security with a money purchase scheme that provides no guarantee
for workers when they retire.
The devastating announcement comes hot on the heels of a 20% cut
in the Government funding grant which has led to a major
restructuring and redundancy programme. In addition the DTI (now
BERR) recently took action which limits the amount of reserves that
not for profit organisations it funds can accumulate to provide
contingency against such risks."
The closure of the final salary scheme comes hot on the heels of
recent closures from firms such as Cussons, Unisys, Royal Mail and
Siemens amongst others. Recent surveys showed that only a small
fraction of final salary schemes are still open to employees around
the UK.
