SOUTHERN Vectis workers are to be balloted for strike action from today (Friday), following a row about pensions.
The RMT Union has slammed a decision by the Go Ahead Group, Southern Vectis’s parent company, to close final salary pension schemes to new employees as an unacceptable cost-cutting exercise.
The union said the move would result in higher pension contributions for other workers and would leave members facing a lower standard of living in retirement.
"The Go Ahead Group made £117 million in profits and handed its shareholders £48 million in dividends last year but the closure of these pension schemes is nothing more than a cost-cutting exercise designed to squeeze out even more," said RMT general secretary Bob Crow.
But Alex Carter, managing director at the Go-Ahead Group’s regional branch, Go-South Coast, claimed the move was designed to protect current staff pensions for the future and said new employees would be offered an alternative scheme.
Around 1,000 RMT bus workers in Wiltshire, Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are set to vote, before the ballot closes on June 19.
Reporter: emilyp@iwcpmail.co.uk