Ford faces first strike action in over 30 years in pensions fight
WORKERS at Ford’s UK sites are being balloted for strike action over a pensions dispute, the Unite union said yesterday.
If the 2,500 staff vote for a strike, it will be the first industrial action to hit Ford since the 1970s.
Workers will vote at Ford’s UK headquarters and at several factories including Dagenham, where a strike in 1968 forced the company to pay women equally.
Unite objects to lower pay rates and the closure of a final salary pension scheme for new starters.
“Unite will not stand by and allow Ford to create a two tier workforce on pay and pensions. We urge Ford to return to the negotiating table if it wants to avoid this dispute,” said Unite’s Roger Maddison.
Ford said it “has sought to discuss with the union the financial challenges of its defined benefit pension funds”.