Hain leads MP’s call for Justice for Visteon Pensioners

MP for Neath Peter Hain has called upon the car company Ford to take responsibility and support its employees who were affected by the collapse of the Visteon UK pension fund.

Mr Hain says, ‘Some of my constituents were loyal Ford employees for up to thirty years before being transferred to Visteon UK in 2000. Upon Visteon’s collapse, many received only half their full pensions.  This is simply unacceptable.’

Following the collapse of Visteon in 2009, it emerged that the Visteon UK pension fund appeared to be underfunded by approximately £350m. The issue is currently a subject of legal action, with those affected adamant that Ford did not take well enough care of its employees when they were transferred from Ford to Visteon UK.

Mr Hain is among 50 MP’s who have written to Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford Motor Company, to urge Ford to reconsider its stance towards the thousands of people  who are now paying the price of Visteon’s failure and are receiving much reduced pension rights.

‘Many of the workers I have spoken to feel that their transferred pensions were miss-sold to them and that assurances given to them at the time by Ford have turned out to be meaningless,’ says Mr Hain. ‘The collapse of Visteon UK has had a devastating impact on their pensions and they believe that Ford has a moral obligation to make up the shortfall.’

Mr Hain signing the letter to Ford CEO Alan Mulally on 26th November.