{"id":12176,"date":"2017-04-21T15:53:06","date_gmt":"2017-04-21T14:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=12176"},"modified":"2017-04-21T15:53:06","modified_gmt":"2017-04-21T14:53:06","slug":"immoral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=12176","title":{"rendered":"‘Immoral’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Just a day after BMW justified its pension scheme closure plans by calling the scheme \u00e2\u20ac\u015bunsustainable and unaffordable\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 in a statement on Wednesday (April 19), the car firm posted skyrocketing profits.<\/p>\n

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The automaker \u00e2\u20ac\u201c whose UK workers downed tools for the first time on Wednesday in a series of planned actions over pension proposals that could\u00c2\u00a0 see some lose up to \u00c2\u0141160,000 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c saw profits rise by more than a quarter to \u00e2\u201a\u00ac3bn in the first quarter of the year.<\/p>\n

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The results posted on Thursday (April 21) that far exceeded expectations forced the German carmaker to post results early \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in Germany this is a requirement. BMW becomes the third German auto firm, including Daimler and Volkswagen, to post better than expected results.<\/p>\n

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Unite BMW Mini plant convenor Norman Gough called the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s contention that the pension scheme is unaffordable \u00e2\u20ac\u015brubbish\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey made record profits in 2016 of \u00e2\u201a\u00ac6.9bn,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve increased the shareholders dividends by 8 per cent.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNow because of their greed, they want to take away what people have paid into for 30 or 40 years,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Gough added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s immoral.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke agreed, calling the latest news of BMW\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s profits \u00e2\u20ac\u015bastonishing\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 against the backdrop of the company closing its final salary pension scheme and depriving its workers of their hard earned retirement income.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur workers here in the UK make the iconic Mini as well as the Rolls-Royce, the best luxury car in the world,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur members have contributed massively to the profits that the company posted today and indeed over several decades.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe workforce is understandably incredibly angry that the company is insisting on closing the pension scheme while at the same time making massive profits.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have tried and we are still trying to get BMW to come to the table and agree to a deal, but they are still not moving in our direction,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Burke went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe will continue our action on Sunday with more to come until the company finally agrees to have constructive discussions.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wednesday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s action is the first in a series of eight 24 strikes hitting all four of BMW\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s UK plants over the next five weeks, including Rolls-Royce in Goodwood where workers plan to walk out for the first time on Friday, May 5.<\/p>\n

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The next seven strikes are planned on:<\/p>\n

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Sunday 23 April \u00e2\u20ac\u201c workers at Cowley and Swindon strike<\/p>\n

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Wednesday 3 May \u00e2\u20ac\u201c workers at Hams Hall strike<\/p>\n

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Friday 5 May \u00e2\u20ac\u201c workers at Rolls-Royce at Goodwood strike<\/p>\n

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Tuesday 16 May \u00e2\u20ac\u201c workers at Cowley, Goodwood, Hams Hall and Swindon strike<\/p>\n

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Thursday 18 May – workers at Cowley, Goodwood, Hams Hall and Swindon strike<\/p>\n

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Sunday 21 May \u00e2\u20ac\u201c workers at Cowley and Swindon strike<\/p>\n

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Wednesday 24 May \u00e2\u20ac\u201c workers at Goodwood and Hams Hall strike<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just a day after BMW justified its pension scheme closure plans by calling the scheme \u00e2\u20ac\u015bunsustainable and unaffordable\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 in a statement on Wednesday (April 19), the car firm posted skyrocketing profits.   The automaker \u00e2\u20ac\u201c whose UK workers downed tools for the first time on Wednesday in a series of planned actions over pension proposals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[602,270],"wps_subtitle":"BMW profits rise amid pensions dispute","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12176"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12177,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12176\/revisions\/12177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}