Strike threat over ‘raid’ on nuclear workers’ pensions
THIS road reopened last week after being closed overnight following flooding.
Henllys Lane in Beaumaris was shut after being submerged in several feet of water last Wednesday after a drain became blocked by a mixture of leaves and plastic.
Anglesey council workers returned to the scene last Thursday to clear the debris and pump the water away. NUCLEAR workers in North Wales could consider strike action in a row over pensions.
Unions said 16,000 workers at 19 sites across the UK face cuts under plans by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to make savings of £660 million.
They include hundreds of Magnox staff at Wylfa on Anglesey, currently de-fuelling after ending operations at the end of 2015, and Trawsfynydd in Gwynedd, now being decommissioned.
The unions said the Government’s expectation is that final salary pension schemes in place across the NDA will be reformed by April 2018.
Justin Bowden, GMB national officer, said: “There is no justification for this attack on the pensions of these nuclear workers and their communities. These pension funds are in a sound state and underwent considerable reform 10 years ago.
“What the Government is saying is that the privatised site licence companies who run these nuclear facilities are in fact public sector organisations and therefore Sellafield, Dounreay and the Magnox sites should go through the same reforms as the rest of the public sector itself.”
Kevin Coyne, Unite national officer, said: “We are urging all our members to resist this proposed Treasury-led ‘raid’ on their pensions - if it is allowed to go ahead, thousands of workers will see their retirement incomes slashed by thousands of pounds.
“It is blatantly clear the NDA is the stalking horse for the Government hell-bent in saving £660 million over the period of decommissioning.”
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority said: “Government policy is that all public-sector final-salary pensions schemes should be reformed by 2018, and four million public sector workers have already moved to new pension arrangements. We expect to begin formal consultation on 9 January.”