Lloyds Banking Group pension changes hit staff more than bosses, says union

Lloyds Banking Group is facing a row with one of its main trade unions over proposed changes to its pension scheme which the union argues disadvantages employees more than the boardroom bosses. While Lloyds is keeping open its final salary pension scheme it wants to reduce the cost by limiting the pensionable pay of members to increases of the lower of 2% or the retail price index. But, the Lloyds TSB Group Union said it had discovered that the two boardroom executives who are members of the scheme – Eric Daniels, the chief executive and Archie Kane, who runs the insurance arm – will not be subjected to the same cap. Mark Brown, assistant general secretary at Lloyds TSB Union, said: "The sheer arrogance of this decision will stick in the throats of all right-minded members of staff regardless of whatever they may think about the changes to pension schemes. Any pension changes should apply to everyone, equally or to no one at all. One has to question the judgment of people who believe this is in any way morally defensible". Lloyds said it was making the changes to its pension scheme to make it "sustainable" for the long term and pointed out that Daniels and Kane both announced in 2008 that they would leave the pension scheme, without any compensation, in 2012. The union, however, was not satisfied by this explanation and said "large numbers of staff" will have no choice but to leave the final salary scheme because of the salary cap being imposed on members. More than 1,150 UK final salary schemes have been closed to new members since 2000 and replaced with less attractive ones.