Germany: Opel GmbH to pay retrospectively for extra company pension to 20.000 pensioners

After two rulings at the federal Labour Court rendered in 1993 and 2002 by virtue of the principle of equal treatment among workers, Opel negotiated with its EWC a retroactive payment of an supplementary company pension to several thousands of pensioners. In German companies, there are many "lapses" and late payments concerning supplementary pensions. (Ref. 080002)
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A ruling rendered by the federal Labour Court in 1993 had granted equal pension rights to blue-collar workers (Arbeiter) and white-collar workers (Angestellte) privileged until then. “The 1993 ruling did not specify that it also included supplementary company pensions. So we didn’t do anything”, explained an Opel spokesman to e-europnews. Another ruling by the same court in 2002 finally forced Opel, five years later, to revaluate the pension of almost 20.000 of these former blue-collar workers,

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