Ford white-collar staff have voted for a 24-hour strike affecting Dagenham in Essex, Bridgend in South Wales, Halewood on Merseyside and Southampton as Ford attempts to close its final salary pension scheme to new starters and reduce benefits.
The action follows a similar attempt by Honda in the South West to change its pension scheme earlier in the year, which was defeated by Unite action. Unite sees the attempt by Ford as an attempt to prepare for the closure of the scheme as well as to create a two-tier workforce on pay and pensions. ■