Regional Newspaper Journalists DB scheme unilateral wind up?

[ajapale]

Regional Journalists who are members of the NUJ are threatening strike action over a proposal to wind up their fully funded DB scheme. See Here.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The dispute centres on plans by the Regional Newspapers Association of Ireland to change the pension scheme for journalists.

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This is a warning shot to all employees on private sector DB schemes.

 

[CCOVICH]

The article doesn't explicitly say whether the change would apply to all members or new entrants from a certain date.

 

[qreus1]

The change in the Newspaper journalists DB scheme applies to existing and new members. The newspapers tried to do the same to the GPMU pension last year, but that DB pension is continuing albeit with a freeze on contributions. Considering how pensions generally are performing it obviously comes down to greed on the part of the regional newspapers, which are now mostly owned by English based companies and which are making record profits in Ireland.

 

[CCOVICH]

Considering how pensions generally are performing it obviously comes down to greed on the part of the regional newspapers, which are now mostly owned by English based companies and which are making record profits in Ireland.

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Not obviously, DB schemes are a huge cost to employers, and new rules have made/will make this worse. We only have to look at Aer Lingus to see what a millstone a DB scheme can be for an employer.

Having said this, I'm not sure if I agree with changing the terms of employment of existing employees.

I say all this having had the good fortune to be a member of an extremely generous DB scheme, but I consider it a privilege and wouldn't be surpised if it is scaled back in the future. In my previous employment, the DB scheme was closed to new entrants just before I left, so it's a trend we are likely to see more and more of in the coming years IMHO.