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| Stephen Metcalfe MP addressing a previous Visteon Pensioners demonstration |
Today in Parliament, Stephen Metcalfe, Member of Parliament
for South Basildon and East Thurrock, and Chairman of the All Party
Parliamentary Group in support of Visteon Pensioners heard about the Visteon
Pensioners Action Group (VPAG) plans to demonstrate outside Parliament to
commemorate the fourth anniversary of the collapse of Visteon.
Four years on from the collapse of Visteon, the former Ford
parts manufacturer, MPs from across the country and across the political
divide are again calling for Ford to do the right thing and live up to their
moral obligations to their former employees, many of whom lost much of their
pension when the business collapsed in March 2009.
Visteon was the automotive
parts division of Ford Motor Company whaich was spun off from Ford in
2000. The UK arm (Visteon UK) subsequently went into administration in
2009 resulting in the loss of over 500 jobs and leaving many ex-employees with
either reduced or frozen pension rights.
In support of the pensioners,
earlier this year an APPG was established with a view to looking at the
background of the collapse of Visteon, the effect it had on its pensioners and
ex-employees and to look at whether Ford has a duty of care to its
ex-employees.
In a recent Parliamentary debate, Stephen
Metcalfe Chairman of the APPG later commented: “This is about Ford doing the
right thing. As I said in the debate, I have great respect for the company. It
has a long and noble history in this country – but even the best businesses can
make mistakes. Ford, in this instance has got it wrong and they must stand up
and take responsibility for their actions. I will continue to fight until
justice is served for the Visteon Pensioners.”
During previous demonstration MPs
have shown their support for the Visteon employees by meeting with them during
the demonstration and this year will be no exception. The APPG will be
coordinating with VPAG to try and encourage as many MPs as possible to show
their support.
Stephen said: “I hope that
the Visteon Pensioners will one day get the pensions they are rightly entitled
to.”
