ABOUT 440 workers at Ardagh Glass are being balloted for strike action on changes to their pension scheme.
The workers, members of Unite the Union, will vote from Tuesday on whether they wish to strike or take industrial action short of a strike over the management's plans to close the current benefits scheme and replace it with a 'vastly inferior' one from October 1.
Unite claims the move could leave workers in 'pensioner poverty' with the loss of thousands of pounds to their retirement income.
The ballot closes on Tuesday 18 August.
The glass manufacturer wants to change the defined benefits system which currently sees the company contribute 25.9 per cent and the individual worker three, six or nine per cent, depending on circumstances. There are 492 members in the scheme.
** The full story appears in the Barnsley Chronicle, dated July 17. **
