Unilever reputation slides as share price dips - Unite says, get
back round the table on pensions
11 January 2012
Unite the union has today (Wednesday) warned Unilever that its
poor treatment of its UK workers is having a detrimental impact on
the business following the 69 pence fall in the global company's
share price, one of the biggest falls in the market today.
Trading on both the London and Dutch stock exchanges, where the
company is listed, saw the price drop as the dispute with workers
over the transnational's plans to shelve the final salary pension
scheme deepens, despite Unilever's admission that there is no
financial imperative for it to do so as the scheme is in excellent
health.
Yesterday, scores of Unite members lobbied Unilever's London HQ
in protest at the ’dirty’ treatment of them by a company that
produces some of the biggest selling cleaning products on the
planet. Last December, Unilever workers took their first ever
strike action in the UK in defence of their pension and further
action is set to follow this month.
Commenting on the share price drop, Jennie Formby, Unite
national officer, said: "We take no pleasure in seeing the share
price drop but this must surely ring alarm bells among
shareholders.
"When a company opts to pay its CEO 285 times more than its
average worker, and his pay jumps by almost 50 per cent in one
year, then this is a company that is not short of money but it is
fond of hoarding it in the boardroom.
"The public debate now is about how corporates and capitalism
must behave more responsibly. Closing a viable pension scheme
and replacing it with one that will slash people's retirement
savings by between 20 and 40 per cent is far from responsible,
particularly when the company admits this will not save money.
"Unilever ought to be ashamed of its pension snatch. We
sincerely hope that if it will not listen to its workforce then
perhaps the share warning will wake the company up to the damage
its doing to its reputation in this country."
Unilever is refusing to meet with Unite and colleague unions,
Usdaw and the GMB, at mediators Acas to discuss ways to resolve the
dispute.
ENDS
For further information, please contact Karen Viquerat, Unite
communications officer on 07768 931 316 or Jennie Formby on 07702
206 436.
Share price update source:
Marketwatch
