Staff at open air museum Beamish in County Durham are calling on the abandonment of proposals to remove existing staff from the Local Government Pension Scheme. Workers say the plans would slash their retirement payments.
Petition and union response
A petition has been signed by a majority of employees who are urging the board to reconsider the plans before a consultation ends on Sunday, August 16. The union says the museum has indicated it could use controversial “fire and rehire” tactics to dismiss and re-engage staff who refuse to accept new contracts. UNISON says the case for changing workers’ pensions is unclear when the scheme is currently in surplus.
Paul Foy, Northern regional secretary for UNISON, said: "Some staff have worked at Beamish Museum for decades and their pension has been a vital part of their employment package. Workers shouldn't face losing thousands of pounds in retirement through sneaky changes to terms and conditions.
The possibility of fire and rehire is particularly disappointing from an organisation that celebrates the North East's proud industrial and trade union heritage. Such archaic employment practices wouldn't look out of place as an exhibit in the museum.
The government has made clear it wants to end fire and rehire. The board still has time to reconsider these damaging proposals, properly explore the alternatives and allow employees to remain in the current scheme."
Museum's response
A Beamish Museum spokesperson said: "Beamish Museum is in the process of a collective consultation regarding its current pension provision. Our priority is to ensure long term sustainability for our people and for the museum.
Our focus during the consultation is in supporting our employees and communicating with them directly. Because these discussions involve personnel matters we are not able to comment further."
