Steria reaches new pension agreement as Fujitsu strike begins

Steria has reached a new pension deal with employees

IT services supplier Steria has signed a new deal with unions on pensions for its employees.

From April 2010 Steria will close the defined benefit scheme to future accrual and instead offer employees access to a Steria defined contribution pension scheme on terms designed to reflect the benefits of their original scheme.

John Torrie, the chief executive of Steria, said the firm had worked for four months on the deal with unions.

"Steria is not alone in identifying the necessity to review pension provision, especially in light of the challenging economic environment and the falling asset values of the financial market," he said.

The contract was signed in London yesterday with unions Connect, CWU, Unite and the Steria Employee Forum.

Peter Skyte, Unite National Officer for IT and Communications, welcomed Steria's co-operation on the deal.

“We welcome…the fact that pensions of members will broadly mirror what they currently could expect under the final salary pension scheme," he said.

"The approach taken by Steria towards these negotiations contrasts markedly with the approach taken by other companies."

Today Fujitsu employees who are members of Unite began the first of six days of strike action which will continue in the new year on 7, 8, 11, 14 and 15 January.

They are protesting about the firm's plans to cut 1,200 jobs, freeze pay and close a final salary pension plan.

Last week HP narrowly avoided a strike of 1,000 ex-EDS staff working on government contracts who belong to the union PCS, but was hit by a walkout of service engineers from Unite.