Theres no surprise about the MOU not being worth the paper it (still has to be) written on.
I, along with others, stated this during the debate on PPRuNe during the pension 'consultation'.
The fact that people were willing to vote 'Yes' before the MOU was even written made no sense to me whatsoever - they were basically agreeing to Ts&Cs yet to be decided. Do you honestly think management will roll over on it?
There is no consultation on the MOU, we have already agreed to it, in whatever form it takes. It is a 'negotiation' between our union and management - we've seen how well those go recently...
NATS managment will be back well before the 15 years is up, cap in hand. In fact, I would be surprised if there is not a proviso within the MOU that states that NATS has 'the right to re-negotiate at any time before the 15 year period if finances dictate'.
And finances 'will dictate' because NATS have some very clever, well paid money men who know how to siphon off certain profits in ways that mean they cannot be used for pension funds or pay negotiations.
The reports about companies closing their schemes cited the current financial climate and interest rates as well as longevity, as being the reasons.
This is depsite the fact that pension funds are long term investments that will see good economic times and bad, and despite the fact we were implicitly told at briefings that the current downturn had no real bearing on the fund and was not an issue we should focus on.
The fact is, companies are in part, using the downturn to close schemes whether they are viable or not. It is very easy for companies in this current temporary climate, to scaremoneger workforces.
Last edited by anotherthing; 25th January 2009 at 10:00.