After a 5-year campaign organized by the Unite union, punctuated by demonstrations, marches and lobbies and political pressure as well as legal action, Visteon workers secured a settlement from their former employer, Ford, to fund their pensions. In May 2000, Ford sold off its car parts manufacturing plants to Visteon, which then went bankrupt. Following that, their financial entitlement drop by up to 50%.
In May 2000, Ford sold off its car parts manufacturing plants with a former subsidiary, Visteon, now autonomous, employing around 3,000 workers on four sites (Belfast, Enfield, Basildon, and Swansea). In 2009, Visteon went into bankruptcy and employees’ pensions were cut by up to 50%, as the government’s Pension Protection Fund only covers a proportion of these workers’ pensions. The deal agreed by Ford covers some 1,200 workers across the 4 plants and is believed to be worth many millions (although the figure is yet to be made public).
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