The Most Marginalised Suffer Most from Lack of Pensions

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The Most Marginalised Suffer Most from Lack of Pensions

Workers' Movement News In Brief
IT Workers Successfully Challenge Government
Dewhirst Shuts Last Clothes Factory
Council Workers Not Paid through Privatisation

National minority women working part-time in the North of England suffer most from lack of pension provisions. This is the picture that emerges from the TUC report published on August 25 entitled Uncovered: workers without pensions. Those working for small employers and with fragmented careers are also at the bottom of the pensions pile, according to the report. The TUC report discloses that 12 million workers are without an occupational pension, while five million workers in Britain will have to rely solely on state provision.

Uncovered: workers without pensions, says:

• More than twice as many professional men (76%) are members of an occupational scheme compared to unskilled men (34%). The split is even greater for women at 71% and 27% respectively.
• Whether employees are part-time or not also has a considerable impact, with the number of part-time women workers with a company pension only standing at 28%, compared to 55% of full-timers. Part-time female employees in low status jobs fare particularly badly, with only 15% of unskilled women working part-time in a company pension.
• Overall, people from ethnic minorities are slightly less likely to have non-state pension entitlement but the most marked difference between whites and non-whites occurs among men aged over 40. Whereas only 13 per cent of white males aged over 40 lacked non-state pension cover of any kind, 44 per cent of non-white males fell into this category.
• The chance that a job carries an occupational pension is more closely linked to industry than occupation, being particularly high in public administration, and the formerly publicly owned energy and transport sectors. Part-time, temporary or seasonal staff located in small firms, based in the manufacturing, distribution and construction sectors are the most likely to lose out.
• Almost 80% of London-based full-time male employees are likely to have a pension, compared to just under 73% for the average across other regions. Whilst female full time workers in the capital are more likely to have a pension (82.3%) than their male colleagues, the figures for other parts of the UK are much worse for women (64.3%). Looking at the figures across both men and women it seems likely that pensions coverage would be lower in the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside, the East Midlands and Wales and highest in London and the South East.

TUC Deputy General Secretary, Brendan Barber, said:

"Hard working people deserve decent retirement incomes but at the moment pension coverage is disproportionately patchy. It is crucial that we have a strong safety net for those who are left without coverage but in the end, we all need to pay up for pensions. We want to see compulsory employer contributions and action to stem the tide of final salary scheme closures. Compulsory employer contributions would also make stakeholder schemes much more attractive to the kind of people who are most likely to be without cover."

This picture of the most marginalised in society entering old age without adequate pension cover emerges as the government is further withdrawing from responsibility for the well-being of society, including cutting back on the state pension. Furthermore, the systematic robbery by the monopolies of workers' pension funds, coupled now with the collapse in stock prices, has meant that many workers are finding themselves without adequate pensions and the final salary pension schemes are being widely withdrawn.

Far from moving on from the conception of state benefits as providing merely a "safety net" should individuals fail to be able to fend for themselves and guaranteeing the well-being of all human beings, the government is further withdrawing the safety-net and demanding that workers further enrich the financiers, even considering making such pension schemes compulsory. Thus the vulnerable are promised destitution in old age, while the appropriation of parasitic capitalist profit by the rich is to be stepped up.

A group of freelance computer consultants who said that their jobs were suffering because of a Home Office policy in employing cheap labour have successfully challenged the government. The Home Office included IT specialists on a list of skills shortages, which meant that companies could apply for fast-track visas to bring workers in from overseas. The IT workers said that the system was being abused.

Some companies, including big household names, were ending contracts then employing people on fast-track visas and lower salaries to do the same jobs. Many of the overseas workers came from India. The freelance computer consultants said that they were finding it increasingly difficult to find new contracts, which suggested there was no skills shortage.

The Professional Contractors' Group collected evidence from its members and presented it to the Home Office. After a series of discussions the government has agreed to remove all IT jobs from its skills shortage list and all IT work permit applications must show that the job has been advertised in either a national newspaper or a relevant trade journal.

But the Home Office said it would review the state of the labour market in about three months' time.

Dewhirst Shuts Last Clothes Factory

Marks and Spencer clothing manufacturer Dewhirst, which once operated five plants in Wales, has confirmed it is to close its last remaining factory.

The 168-strong workforce at the plant in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, was told on august 28 that it would shut following a 90-day consultation period. It is the latest in a long line of closures for the manufacturer which has been badly affected by the withdrawal of orders from the high street monopoly Marks & Spencer. The new job losses bring the total in Wales to around 1,400. In 2000, the company also closed two plants on Teesside and Stoke-in-Trent in England.

In a statement the company said they "regretted" the move. It said continued consumer pressure on prices had hit profitability.

Emily Thomas from the GMB said that the union would be looking for meetings with the Welsh Assembly to assist the workers. "We will spend the 90-day consultation period trying to work out every way for them to keep their jobs or get trained for other jobs – they're a highly skilled workforce," she said.

The GMB is putting forward that manufacturers and the government should develop strategies to save jobs in the sector, including getting contracts for public sector worker uniforms such as nurses, emergency and military staff. "British firms aren't winning these contracts but we have the skills, and it would save a lot of jobs," Emily Thomas said.

Welsh Assembly economic development minister Andrew Davies said he was "bitterly disappointed" by the decision to close the factory. "Dewhirst has made a strategic decision to withdraw from manufacturing in Wales in a move to increase profits. Regrettably, they have kept us in the dark about their plans and have given us very late notice of their announcement. The significantly lower wages they pay workers abroad means that by re-locating they can achieve higher profit margins for the company," he said.

Dewhirst factories began closing in Wales back in 1998.

• Last Friday the Dewhirst plant at Fforestfach in Swansea, closed with the loss of 435 jobs.
• Another 325 jobs are to go at the Dewhirst factory in Cardigan in November.
• The first factory to close was at Ystalyfera in Swansea when 300 jobs were lost in 1998.
• Last year 165 jobs went when the plant at Lampeter was shut down.

Council Workers Not Paid through Privatisation

More than 4,000 council workers in Cumbria are missing their monthly wage packet. Union officials from UNISON are demanding that Cumbria County Council compensate the workers.

Cumbria County Council says the problem is with the company that processes its payroll. But UNSION says it is the latest in a series of problems since the authority privatised its payroll service.

A county council spokesman admitted cash had not been paid into employee bank accounts because of a mistake by CapitaDBS, the company which runs the county payroll. He said staff would not be paid until at least September 3. He described the problem as "a glitch" by CapitaDBS which had affected monthly-paid staff, excluding teachers and pensioners.

A spokesman for UNISON said: "This is the latest in a long line of problems staff have encountered since the service was privatised.

"It could be very serious for employees who might find themselves unable to meet major payments like mortgages. We want the council to meet the cost of any bank charges incurred by staff before their pay goes in. We also want them to give each member of staff £50 in compensation and to take all necessary steps to prevent the problem being repeated."

A series of meetings is being held over the issue and the council says it is setting up a helpline for affected staff.