More than 400 offshore employees employed by Bilfinger UK have backed an improved pension offer.
The staff, who are members of trade union Unite, voted on the proposed deal after suspending 48-hour strike action on 19-20 February. The accepted offer will see Bilfinger increase its pension scheme contributions from 3% of gross earnings to 5%, with no thresholds applied to the payments.
Employees voted to take strike action back in December, with 97.6% in favour. They argued that they were losing thousands of pounds in pension contributions due to their weekly pay pattern and wanted a gross earnings pension scheme similar to other private sector and offshore organisations.
They said that, previously, the qualifying earnings income was between £6,240 and £50,270 and anything above or below that did not factor in pension contributions. It resulted in Bilfinger’s annual pension contribution capped at £1,320.90 per year regardless of income.
A spokesperson for Bilfinger UK said: “We can confirm offshore employees have voted to accept the new pension agreement. Throughout this process, we have engaged constructively with Unite to reach a positive outcome for our people. This agreement reflects our ongoing commitment to providing a competitive and sustainable pay and benefits package for our highly skilled offshore workforce.”
Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite, added: “By being prepared to take strike action our offshore members brought Bilfinger back to the table to make a fair pension offer. This deal will see millions of pounds each year being put into workers’ pockets.”
Paula Buchan, industrial officer at Unite, said: “The excellent pension deal delivered by Unite was only achieved because of the strength and unity shown across the workforce. This dispute proves that collective action and by sticking together workers can achieve real improvements at work.”
