Amicus say the Government's Pension Assistance Scheme Will Fail Those in Need
LONDON, September 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Amicus say that only 20% of the people who have lost all or part of their pension entitlement after the winding-up of their schemes will benefit from the government's Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) meant to help them.
Amicus trade union, which spearheaded the campaign for the compensation of workers who lost their pensions when their employers went into liquidation, say the scheme will fail the majority of the 200,000 people affected.
Under current plans FAS will only help people three years or less away from retirement. Amicus wants FAS to cover other victims. The largest private sector union also wants the Scheme extended to schemes such as APW and Wellman, where the employers are not insolvent but schemes members have no legal claim on their former employers.
The union says that to adequately fund all the victims will require much more than the GBP400 million set aside by the government for FAS and it will continue to press for increased levels of assistance.
Derek Simpson, Amicus' General Secretary, said: "As it stands, FAS will not help the vast majority of people who need it. It is not reasonable, or in the spirit of the scheme, to allow thousands of people in their fifties and early sixties to remain in a position where they face penury in their old age.
"We and they believed that FAS would allow them to plan again for their retirement. There is a feeling that because the political and media spotlight has passed on, their predicament is being ignored but we will not allow these people to be failed for a second time."
The government announced the introduction of FAS at the end of 2003 following a Parliamentary and media campaign led by Amicus. The union says that it will relaunch their campaign for pension justice unless urgent changes are made to the scheme's criteria. Amicus is also pursuing a case in the European Courts over members who have lost their pension rights in cases of their company's insolvency.
Independent trustees have until the end of the month to apply to join the government's Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) substantial parts of their pensions when their companies became insolvent. Those applying to join the scheme will have their cases assessed before the end of the year.
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