A final salary pension has fixed benefits—payments linked to the wage at the time of retirement. Grampian bosses want to replace this with a “money purchase” arrangement whereby retirement benefits vary with how pension funds invested in the stock market perform. The company registered a deficit in its pension fund of £85 million (£1=US$1.76) in May 2004, the Independent said.

According to the London daily, the company slaughters a quarter of all pigs and cattle in Britain and supplies 30 percent of all chicken in the country. The 1,000 workers at Grampian sites in Scotland, Wales, and England organised by the TGWU voted by a margin of three to one for taking industrial action. Pickets said that of the 950 TGWU members at Haverhill, around 500 are directly affected by the attack on the pension scheme and took part in the vote. After the Haverhill strike, action was due to spread to other Grampian plants organised by the TGWU. The Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) organises a larger number of Grampian workers but did not join the TGWU action.

“I really feel strongly about this proposed final salary closure,” said Lucy Woodhouse, who has worked at the company for 33 years, and been a member of the TGWU since she was 14. “If the company had listened and negotiated with the TGWU this strike wouldn’t have happened.”

Peter Inwood said the company had issued a statement saying they did not want people intimidated by pickets. “But we’re the ones who have to put up with that from management every day of the week,” he said. “They are dividing the workforce by bringing in temporary workers and deliberately trying to force out long-service workers by attacking pensions. They know long-service workers at this site won’t be intimidated. Management is telling us if we take action the company could shut down the plant.”

At 3.30 p.m. September 23 the strike was abruptly called off and all future action suspended. According to the Independent, the courts had upheld a legal challenge by the bosses to the TGWU-organised ballot. Grampian’s legal advisers had argued that the union’s ballot was unlawful because the company’s name was incorrectly rendered on voting forms sent to employees. The TGWU is appealing this ruling and if necessary will re-ballot to continue the action.

The day before the walkout in Suffolk, USDAW members at Grampian Halls near Edinburgh held mass meetings where they voted to accept a pay rise of 3.25 percent. Till a week earlier the company had been pressing a lower offer tied to an erosion of many long-established conditions. In response, 100 workers attended a union meeting and voted for strike action. Many said the company retreated out of fear of union action in two major plants at once. The TGWU is also balloting for action over wages and conditions at two smaller chicken plants run by Grampian in Coupar Angus, Scotland, and Sandycroft, Wales.
 
 
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