This Saturday (21.01.12) workers at Unilever factories in Leeds and Port Sunlight went on strike for 24 hours as part of the 12 day program of rolling action across the 12 Unilever UK sites.

The action has been taken by USDAW, UNITE and GMB over Unilever’s refusal to continue negotiations about pensions.

Unilever wants to switch the workers from a final salary pension scheme to a career-average re-valued earnings (CARE) plan, a cheaper option for the company.

The company is following the example of other large companies, saying that the final salary scheme is a ‘broken model’. In this offensive, the bosses are championed by the Con-Dem government itself, which is desperate to bust pension rights in order to make public services (and the workers that come with them) a more attractive investment for privatisation.

Workers are on average losing out on 20% of their retirement income, with some losing up to 40%.

All this would seem to point to a company in financial trouble but Unilever made £6.1 billion in profit last year, and the CEO was paid more than £3.5 million when you take in to account his salary, free shares, bonus, and, shockingly, a contribution to his pension! This is the same CEO who said last year ‘What I want is a sustainable and equitable capitalism. Why can’t we have that as a model?’

This has not the first betrayal from the bosses at Unilever. In 2008, it closed its final salary scheme to newcomers but promised to ensure that the existing workers would keep the scheme. For this privilege the workers had to up their contributions from 5% to 7%. Unilever couldn’t even keep up this sham for 3 years.

Understandably, the unions are sceptical about the CARE plan they have been offered. Unilever will only commit to this plan for 3 years, leaving the possibility of another downgrade probable.

This strike demostrates the contradiction that is ethical capitalism. Corparations can only make profit through exploitation of their workers, and in times of recession they cut pay, pensions and jobs in order to ensure maximum profits.

Furthermore, it is necessary to learn the lesson that by conceding to one compromise on workers’ rights the bosses get their foot in the door, while they prepare future attacks.

The action taken by the workers in Leeds and Merseyside this weekend shows that it is important for private sector workers to support those in the public sector when they take mass action like on November 30th.

When the government attacks the pensions of its own workers, this just encourages private bosses to further downgrade their own employees’ pension schemes.

Unions must take strike action until this assault on the pensions of Unilever workers stops.

Today’s struggles over pensions are immensely relevant for young people. Deals cut with unions in the past have already led to younger workers getting worse pensions than those a few years older doing the same work.

If the government succeeds in smashing the public sector pension rights, then that will pave the way for an onslaught which will make pensions a pipe-dream for our generation and the next.

Read more

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Primark workers set for strike action

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Irish workers occupy La Senza store

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Build a new anticapitalist organisation

.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..