Battling against tech giants for pensions justice
An Ayrshire woman is waging a campaign against tech giants Hewlett Packard over what she claims is a pensions ‘scandal’ that could potentially affect up to 1500 people across the region.
Patricia Kennedy, from Coylton, has fought a long-standing battle with former employer Hewlett Packard Enterprise in bid to force the company to bump up discretionary pension contributions.
Now she’s written to the chair of the company, Patricia Russo, in Texas, and issued an appeal for a company rethink before the Annual Shareholders Virtual meeting today (Wednesday).
Patricia is a member of the HPPA (Hewlett Packard Pension Association (UK) who say they have faced ‘significant hardship’ over the last two decades due to changes in their pension plans.
In Scotland, David Carson is spearheading the campaign for pension ‘justice.’
The group claim they possess massively-reduced pensions from their pre-1997 contributions, because current legislation only index-links contributions from 1997.
And they want the tech giants to ‘make good’ on their contributions to the scheme.
The group also has the backing of some UK parliamentarians, who’ve raised an Early Day Motion, calling on HP - and others - to make good on the pension contributions, which are discretionary.
In her letter to HPE top brass, Patricia who gave 12 years’ of service to the company, said HPE’s refusal to pay annual discretionary increases is causing “significant hardship” for more than 5300 HPE people in the UK and this number is increasing each year.
She also claims there are exemployees who gave more than 100,000 years of dedicated service to build the foundation of what is now HPE.
Her letter says: “Pensioners submitted a petition asking the company to collaborate, in good faith, with the HPE UK Pension Trustee Board and develop a strategy and policy for sustainable future cost of living increases.
“We have had no response. Pensioners have been driven to this because their situation is severe.
“UK members are lobbying government for appropriate intervention. Members of Parliament (MPs), members of the House of Lords, including the influential Pensions Select Committee are supporting our position.”
The letter continues: “There is a growing public recognition that the behaviour and practice of HPE in the UK, is not in-keeping with the espoused ethics and marketing of “one of the world’s most ethical” and top-ranking “JUST 100” companies.
“HPE’s continued non-payment of discretionary increases places HPE in the bottom 14 per cent of British companies, with the increasing publicity and UK parliamentary activity, this will be increasingly noticed by HPE’s customers and investors.
“We are appealing to your personal commitment and expectation on leaders to do good, and for you to ask CEO Antonio Neri and his leadership team: ‘What will it take for HPE to pay annual discretionary inflation/COLA increases to their UK pensioners?’
Central Ayrshire SNP MP, Philippa Whitford, is lending her support to the Early Day Motion, which is asking the House to note that more than 500,000 former employees of 3M and other businesses including American Express, Hewlett-Packard, Chevron and Wood Group face “massivelyreduced pensions” from their pre-1997 contributions.
They also call on the Government to “put pressure” on the companies concerned to make good the indexation of former employees’ pensions for their pension contributions- prior to 1997.
The motion also calls on the Government to consider the introduction of “retrospective legislation” to “encourage” those companies who have not provided a significant discretionary uplift to former employee pensions, to help to mitigate “value erosion” from inflation to their company pensions.
Speaking on Thursday, Patricia added: “In Ayrshire, I think this issue affects 1500 people, at least. It’s a significant number of people.”
An HPE spokesperson said: “HPE is committed to satisfying all of its responsibilities to both current and former team members.
“Each year we carefully consider whether to grant discretionary increases to relevant pensioners, based on a number of factors.
“HPE UK is keenly aware that our decisions impact our pensioners, as well as current team members. HPE UK will continue to act in good faith and to give this matter due and appropriate consideration.”