Unions are warning industrial action could take place if planned cuts to 16,000 nuclear workers' pensions goes ahead.

Unite is calling for an urgent meeting with Energy Minister Jesse Norman over proposals by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) for a £600 million 'raid' on workers' pensions.

Shop stewards held a meeting to discuss the planned cuts on Monday, 09 January.

It is expected 19 sites across the UK will be affected by the plans, including employees working for Sellafied in Cumbria, Dounreay Site Restoration in Caithness and Magnox in Ayrshire, Scotland.


Unite said it believes the NDA is a "stalking horse for the government" in an attempt to save money at the expense of workers' retirement incomes, despite the fact that the pension scheme was not in deficit.

Following the meeting, Unite national officer for energy, Kevin Coyne, said: "They (shop stewards) are dismayed that the retirement incomes of 16,000 nuclear industry workers are under serious threat because of the financial machinations of the Treasury.

"This threat is made worse by the fact that the pension scheme is not in deficit – this is like rubbing salt into the wounds.

"We have further meetings with the NDA scheduled, but in the meantime, we are preparing our membership databases for a potential industrial action ballot for which there is a large groundswell of support.

"We are now calling for an urgent meeting with the recently appointed energy minister Jesse Norman to discuss what we consider an unnecessary Treasury-led 'raid' which could see our members' pensions slashed by thousands of pounds."

(LM)