Members of the GMB union working at the AstraZeneca site in Macclesfield, UK, and some other UK facilities, have voted in favour of industrial action. Macclesfield is the second largest manufacturing and supply site in AstraZeneca’s network, covering all therapeutic areas.
GMB held the ballot after AstraZeneca implemented changes to its final pension scheme. Talks covering the changes were held over a three month period earlier this year, said GMB, but at the end of discussions AstraZeneca’s position was unchanged.
Consequently, GMB felt, regretfully, that it had no choice but to propose strike action, Allan Black, GMB national officer, told in-PharmaTechnologist. Black said that AstraZeneca has generally been a good employer.
In a press statement Black said the vote is a “clear mandate for a strike” which “ought to be a wake up call to Astra Zeneca”. Black said AstraZeneca needs “to return to the negotiating table as a matter of urgency”.
AstraZeneca said in a statement: “The changes made ensure all employees continue to have access to pension arrangements that compare favourably to other organisations in the UK. It is our firm belief that strike action would not be in anyone’s best interests.”
Support for action
At the ballot, 70 per cent of the votes cast were in favour of taking industrial action. GMB has 700 members working at AstraZeneca sites in the UK.
“We understand that 165 employees have voted in favour of action, which represents about a third of the GMB members and less than 2 per cent of the UK employee population”, said AstraZeneca in a statement emailed to in-PharmaTechnologist.
GMB has reached out to unions in Sweden, which have offered support, and international chemical organisations. Black said one of the chemical organisations has written to AstraZeneca.
The pension changes
Black said that the changes tie pension schemes to the salary an employee was earning as of July 2010. Any increases to salaries that occur after this date will not alter employees’ pensions.
Employees can continue paying into the direct benefit (DB) pension scheme or move to a direct contribution (DC) package. AstraZeneca said the DC scheme “is positioned very competitively against the market place”.
The DB scheme has about 2,500 active members and has been closed to new employees since 2000. AstraZeneca said the decision to change the DB scheme is an attempt “to cap the future liability by freezing pensionable pay”. The changes were implemented at the beginning of July.