Trinity Mirror: cutting its pension fund payments for the next three years
The National Union of Journalists has called for urgent talks with Trinity Mirror, after the publisher announced it was cutting its pension fund payments.
In its end-of-year results last week, the Mirror publisher said payments to the fund would be reduced from £33 million to £10 million a year for the next three years.
The cuts come despite Trinity Mirror revealing in its results that the pension deficit had grown from £161 million to £230 million in the past year. The move is to be scrutinised by the Pensions Regulator.
The NUJ said it had written to Trinity Mirror's group finance director Vijay Vaghela calling for a meeting to discuss and clarify the new arrangements.
Northern and Midlands organiser Chris Morley said in a release: "News that Trinity Mirror bosses have brokered a key re-financing deal for the group at the expense of cutting company contributions to the pensions schemes of loyal staff to the tune of £69 million is deeply worrying.
"This has been done in complete secrecy, apparently away from the gaze or involvement of the pension regulator.
"The NUJ has therefore demanded urgent talks with directors to clarify the plan and wants total reassurance that the pensions of Trinity Mirror staff and former staff have not been put in any jeopardy by this move.
"The NUJ also wants details on how important the cut in pension contributions is to the overall debt restructure negotiated with American financiers and what would be the consequences should the regulator take issue with any element of the deal done with pension fund trustees."
The union's general secretary Michelle Stanistreet added: "There are employees of Trinity Mirror who remember, and those who suffered, from the pension rip off by Robert Maxwell in the 1990s.
"No wonder they are worried. That is why we have to have a full discussion about what the changes will mean for our members and what the company’s long-term plans on pension contributions are."
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