Big Turn Out At IBM Meeting As Workers "Are Kicked In The Teeth".

IWorkers employed by IBM are attending nationwide meetings called by Unite over the changes to their pension scheme.

IBM one of the biggest IT companies in the world has resited union organising campaigns in the past, however the company proposals has had employees up in arms over the move.

In Portsmouth where IBM, employs around 5,000 people in North Harbour over 250 workers attended a meeting with workers joining Unite lke never before.

Peter Skyte, national officer for Unite who chaired the meeting said: 'We were taken aback by the turnout. It far exceeded our expectations. The mood is very much they want to persuade IBM to change its mind. Many of them were key to assisting the company out of its own difficulties a few years ago. It feels like a kick in the teeth. A lot of companies are looking at this, but what sets IBM out is it's not a struggling company. It announced a couple of weeks back its latest results, which were the best for this quarter its ever had.'

According to Unite, employees currently pay six per cent of their annual salary into a pension fund, while the company pays around 20 per cent of the employees' annual salary into the fund.

The planned changes would see this cut to between three and five per cent from the employee, and eight to 11 per cent from IBM.

Employees could also be penalised for retiring early under the plans. The overall outcome is that employees would get less in pension pay-outs when they retire.