Workers at Irish Life planning 24 hour work stoppages this Thursday

The closure of a pension scheme for workers at Irish Life is leading to strike action this Thursday.

Up to  800 Unite members in Irish Life will be taking strike action in a dispute centred on the company’s unilateral decision to close the workers’ Defined Benefit pension scheme as of June 30, without the union’s agreement.

The stoppage will last from 0.01 hours to 23.59 hours, with pickets placed in Dublin (Lr Abbey Street) and Dundalk (Finnabair Industrial Estate) from 6 am to 6 pm.  A rally will be held outside Irish Life headquarters on Dublin’s Lower Abbey Street from 12 noon to 2 pm.

Irish Life is Ireland’s largest pension provider, and the stoppage will involve workers at the company’s Dublin head office and its office in Dundalk.

The workers’ Defined Benefit scheme has never been in deficit and the surplus will be €240 million on June 30. The scheme has assets of around €1.1 billion.  The decision to close the Defined Benefit scheme will result in workers losing up to 35% of their anticipated retirement income, leaving many facing pension poverty.

  Joe Conroy, who chairs Unite’s Irish Life Committee, pointed out that Irish Life is highly profitable, returning over €200 million each year to its Canadian parent company, Great West Lifeco,said: “As the country’s largest pension provider, people up and down the country trust Irish Life to ensure their pension security in retirement – yet the company is threatening the pensions security of its own workers”.

 Unite Regional Coordinating Officer Richie Browne noted that the company has so far refused to engage with Unite regarding alternatives to their unilateral decision to close the scheme as of June 30, leaving members with no option but to take industrial action in the absence of meaningful talks.