Unite begins legal action against Ford

The union’s legal representative told schemeXpert.com  it hopes to “rain on [Ford’s] parade” by jumping on the publicity of the announcement. 

“Ford Worldwide is expected to announce record profits of over £8bn, their biggest profit in over a decade,” said Roger Maddison, national officer at Unite. 

“If you’ll excuse the phrase, I hope to piss on their chips by announcing, ‘well, you can give us £350m of that'.’”

Varney and Ford  is being used by the union as a test case, to which further claims can be tagged on. 

When Visteon went into administration in 2009  workers who had opted to move their pensions away from Ford were left with the reduced Pension Protection Fund (PPF) entitlement.

The particulars of the claim, seen by schemeXpert.com , say the deficit of the scheme at the time it entered the PPF was calculated at £350m.

The union’s case centres around statements made by Ford, or by Visteon UK with Ford’s sanction, which Unite argues the motor company “should have known” would be relied upon by workers deciding whether to transfer their pension to the doomed company.

“Furthermore, by making and/or approving and sanctioning the statements, the defendant assumed a responsibility to ensure that they were not misleading,” it reads.

One email was alleged to have come from Bob Hill, the director of personnel of Ford Britain, to union convenor David Cannon saying benefits would be “guaranteed”.

“This statement was simply wrong,” read the particulars. “The pension benefits were not ‘guaranteed’ but were dependent upon the solvency of the Visteon scheme.”

It claims: “If they had been properly informed of the true position regarding the security of their accrued benefits they would not have [transferred them].”

The claim is to be followed by a schedule of loss. A spokesperson for Ford Britain said it had not yet received any notification of the claim, but reiterated its position.

"The situation for former Visteon UK employees is very regrettable but Visteon  was fully responsible for administering and funding their terms and conditions  and for managing its own pension fund," reads the statement.

"Ford's obligations to its former  employees were fully discharged, and Ford maintains that there is no liability  for benefits which were transferred to Visteon ten years ago."

The Visteon Pension Action Group (VPAG) said it welcomed the "unprecedented step" by Unite to pursue a "full restoration" of the former Ford workers' pensions through the courts.

"Our case is clear, Ford need to respond by demonstrating a desire to act to deliver on past commitments," reads its press release.

"A few of our pensioners have fallen victim to age and illness and their widows have been tragically affected by the pension collapse,  their distress adds to the motivation and our determination to make Ford recognise their responsibility and deliver on promises and guarantees made to its employees."