Pension shortfall has devastated us (From Gazette Series)

Pension shortfall has devastated us

SIR - This is a letter I sent to David Drew MP.

It is not with great joy that I write this letter, in fact, I am quite devastated at the need to. My husband is one of the employees at Lister Petter company in Dursley whose pension has been virtually wiped out.

My husband joined the company in 1969 and having completed an apprenticeship, joined the company pension scheme as he was advised to do at the time, and to which he has been contributing for approximately 36 years.

You can imagine how both he, all the other affected employees and their families, feel having been told that they have been robbed of not only money responsibly put aside over many years, but also to be robbed of their security and dignity in retirement.

The whole situation is quite criminal and unacceptable and cannot be left unresolved. Conscientious work and loyalty cannot be penalised in such a manner, especially as these same employees have experienced very uncertain and difficult times for over 15 years.

Every Christmas brought the same question, "Will it be us faced with redundancy this year?" as on a regular basis varying numbers of employees departed, lives put on hold and weeks of stressful uncertainty.

This final chapter is not what these people deserve, having supported a company which was one of the emblems of pride within the British manufacturing industry, renowned throughout the world and through which the Treasury and the prosperity of Britain benefited over so many years.

The question now is "What next?" Quite frankly, the prospect of retirement fills us with dread but what is more frightening is the message that we are sending out to the next generations - Why brother to commit oneself? Why bother trying? In our case it certainly did not pay. Is this truly going to be the reality of the future of Britain? We do, however, cling to the hope that our case can be resolved honourably by the Government who, it must be added, has over the years strongly encouraged employees to secure personal pensions, as did previous governments, without ensuring that measures were put in place to secure their savings.

We know that you will do your utmost to put our deserving case before the government and trust that the government in turn will exercise its wisdom and justice to resolve this intolerable and unjust situation.

Mrs B Skal and family, St Bartholomew's Close, Cam