Members of British Airways' Airways Pension Scheme (APS) have overwhelmingly backed the campaign of three rebel trustees to have their inflation-linked pension increases realigned to the Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation
Members of British Airways' Airways Pension Scheme (APS) have overwhelmingly backed the campaign of three rebel trustees to have their inflation-linked pension increases realigned to the Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation.
Some 94% of APS members voting in a postal ballot called on the scheme's trustees to 'hard-wire' RPI increases into the scheme rules.
Three trustees resigned earlier in the year in protest at the decision of the scheme to pay retired members inflation increases based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which typically works out at a lower rate lower than RPI due to differences in calculation. The move clawed back some £770bn from the pension scheme's deficit but angered the three trustees.
Two of the three trustees resigning, Graham Tomlin and Cliff Pocock, have since been re-elected to the board and are to continue to fight for a re-imposition of RPI with evidence that the membership supports them. The trustees are due to meet next in October.
Mike Post, the third of the rebel trustees, organised the postal ballot. He told Pension Funds Insider that the 94% backing for the central campaign point marks a "stunning success, as in 20 years of campaigning it's pretty clear that once you get these kind of figures then essentially everyone is on your side."
Post also hailed the turnout of 46.1% as "good for a pension ballot". The anti-CPI APS trustees have been campaigning for months to raise the issue amongst the scheme membership via websites, blogs, YouTube and a big members' meeting at Ascot racecourse last month.
Pension Funds Insider reported last month that a legal battle was becoming increasingly likely as the dispute drags on. The anti-CPI campaign is anticipating a legal outcome and 94% of postal ballot votes approved a proposal for Mike Post to represent APS beneficiaries in future High Court sessions.
Post claims that trustees had agreed to seek a judicial review of the switch to CPI in February, before it was introduced, but had been blocked.
Disgruntled APS pensioners have also filed hundreds of complaints that are set to be looked at either by the Pension Ombudsman or small claims courts. Those affected are seeking to claim backdated payment of the extra increases to their pension that RPI would have entitled them to.
Lawyers representing APS have claimed there are no legal grounds for scheme members to claim they are entitled to RPI increases.
22.08.2011
