At a meeting in Grazeley Green Village Hall, 48 pensioners packed the hall to hear about the campaign for pension justice for pre-1997 service.
The group have complained that the Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE) pensions value has been ‘massively eroded’.
In the UK, the majority of Defined Benefits Pension schemes have some means of indexation built into their pension plan. That means pension payments can rise due to inflation.
However, some companies, including American multinational companies.
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The group has accused these companies of allowing the value of pre 97 pensions to ‘significantly erode’ over the past 10 to 20 years, including those of the former major Reading area employer, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC).
From the 1960s until 2002, Digital Equipment was a “gold standard” company offering excellent work and benefits in a company culture based on trust and respect.
Employees were required to join and contribute to a market-leading pension scheme whose object was, and still is, to provide financial security to members.
However, the pensioners claim these objectives have not been honoured by HPE, which took over DEC.
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The group claims for more than 22 years, monthly payments have stayed the same while the value of the pensions has ‘massively decreased’ by between 60-70 per cent.
Patricia Kennedy, co-chair of the Hewlett Packard Pensioners Association said: “No one would have reasonably expected such a loss on the investment of their money due to their mandatory membership in the company pension scheme.
“People feel they gave the best years of their lives and built a world class company only to be ignored as stakeholders while new leaders reap the benefit.
“Although the information about this loss in pension value has never been adequately collected or studied by the Government, hundreds of thousands of pensioners are similarly affected across many other schemes.
“How do we know? We know because affected pensioners have organised themselves and formed a Pre 97 Alliance including over 32.5k people who are represented by over 140 MPs.
“Surely now that the problem is visible to over 140 MPs, the government cannot allow the injustice to continue.”
Elaine Stewart, Labour MP for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock has recently raised the issue in Parliament, with the ‘pre 97 Pension Justice Campaign’ growing in profile.
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The HP Pensioners Association have previously held a demonstration outside of HP’s offices in Winnersh.
At the time, a spokesperson said: “HPE is committed to satisfying all of its responsibilities to both current and former team members.
“The decision on whether to grant discretionary [pension payment] increases to relevant pensioners is given careful consideration and is made based on a number of factors.
“It is reviewed on an annual basis.”
