Thousands of BMW Workers in UK Threaten May Go on Strike Over Pension Plan

Over 7,000 workers from BMW’s UK plants are threatening an industrial action as a result of the German carmaker’s intent to shift all its employees to a defined-contribution pension scheme, while closing two defined-benefits pension schemes from June 2017, local media reported Monday, citing a union chief.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Secretary General of Unite the Union Len McCluskey, said, as cited by The Guardian, that he was able to gauge the "concern, frustration, and anger" of union members during a recent meeting with Unite representatives from the carmakers's UK plants.

McCluskey warned that a "serious industrial action will occur" if both parties did not resolve its differences.

According to the newspaper, the switch over to a less favorable and less generous pension scheme was announced in September 2016, and stands to affect thousands of workers from the automobile maker's five sites in the United Kingdom.

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