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ASW steelworkers

Blair's 'Sympathy' Over Pensions

BBC News

January 21, 2004

Tony Blair has "great sympathy" for steelworkers who lost pensions when their firm went into receivership. 

More than 200 MPs have signed a motion calling for compensation for the 1,000 people affected in Wales and Kent. 

The PM pledged more active pension regulation to focus on tackling fraud, bad governance and poor administration. 

Labour MP Kevin Brennan said ministers would "never tolerate for themselves" the situation the Allied Steel and Wire (ASW) workers were in. 

Some of the one thousand workers who lost jobs at ASW had paid into its pension scheme for over 40 years, but now face receiving little or nothing. 

Injustice 

Unions have served a writ on the government as part of legal action over the steelworkers' pension rights, accusing it of failing to implement an EU directive to safeguard pensions of workers whose employers go into receivership. 

Mr Blair said: "We will continue to do all we can to resolve the situation. 
"We have announced proposals to establish first of all a pension protection fund ... so that employees do not have the injustice of seeing their pension rights disappear. 

"And there will be a more active pensions regulator to focus on tackling fraud, bad governance and poor administration." 

Work and Pensions Secretary Andrew Smith and Pensions Minister Malcolm Wicks will soon be meeting the workers, he said. 


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