Crisis in pensions 'could be Labour's poll tax'

Employers were accused yesterday of stealing money from company pension schemes and lying about new inferior arrangements for employees' retirement benefits.

Ministers were told that if the "pensions crisis'' was not addressed, the issue could do as much damage to the Blair administration as the poll tax did to the Conservatives.

Moving a motion at the TUC that would compel employers and employees to contribute to retirement payments, Roger Lyons, joint general secretary of Amicus, said many organisations had broken a promise made to staff. "It was a promise to contribute to their pension scheme and guarantee the income they paid for themselves. It is a promise broken and they lied about the value of replacement schemes.''

Mr Lyons said companies had been happy to take a break from pension contributions when the stock market was booming, but were refusing to make up a shortfall after share prices had declined. Money had been "stolen'' from employees, he said.

The TUC conference endorsed a resolution calling for compulsory employer contributions of 10 per cent and deplored the replacement of final salary schemes, which guarantee retirement payments, with "often inferior'' money purchase schemes.