May 30 - Unite Delighted With Pension Harmonisation Agreement At Interserve
Unite the Union says it has today settled the long standing pension issue.
A spokesperson said: "The legacy issue goes way back to when Serco was selected as the preferred bidder, to the MoD contract in 2007 and took advantage of a loop hole in the Provident Fund Number 3 pension scheme and applied a 10% employer pension contribution to existing employees, however applied only a 5% employer contribution to new entrants. This agreement to resolve this issue, where employer contributions will be harmonised upwards to 10% for all employees and new entrants, comes against a backdrop of uncertainty over a year ago at Interserve, following the announcement of compulsory redundancies which Unite successfully opposed and had overturned."
Unite’s Interserve Convenor Christian Duo said: “We are delighted with this extremely positive outcome, at a time when pension schemes are a taboo with many employers. We have agreed to harmonise the employer’s pension contributions of all Interserve direct workers across a period of 3 years, whilst the agreement will also apply to any future new employees, therefore boosting the retirement benefits of Unite’s members. The union looks forward to continuing working in such a positive and constructive way with Interserve, as this agreement ultimately not only benefits the union’s members and future members, but the employer and the client which in this case is the MoD. I would like to personally thank the Interserve senior management team, but more importantly the union’s shop stewards and membership at large, as without them this progressive outcome would not have been achieved.”
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