As we approach the 4th anniversary of the collapse of
Visteon UK and in advance of the planned demonstration next Wednesday, the All
Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in Support of Visteon Pensioners has today
sent an Open Letter to Alan Mulally, Ford Motor Company CEO formally asking
that he reconsider Ford’s position with regard to compensating their former
employees that have suffered pension losses since the collapse of Visteon in
March 2009.
Stephen Metcalfe, chair of the APPG, commented: “One week from
today, as we near the 4th anniversary of the collapse of Visteon UK,
Visteon Pensioners will be outside Parliament demanding justice from Ford.
Members of the APPG believe that Ford has a moral responsibility to
compensate the financial losses of the pensioners hence we have written the
Open Letter to publicly highlight our concerns and to call on Ford to meet its
obligations.”
“Ford have a hard won reputation for being a family company and
for being fair to it employees. It would be a shame if that reputation were to
be lost because of the plight of the Visteon Pensioners.”
The letter reads:
Dear
Mr Mulally,
Re:
Visteon (UK) Pensioners.
As we
approach the 4th anniversary of the collapse of Visteon UK and in
light of a recent debate that took place here in Parliament, I am writing to
you in my capacity as Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in
Support of Visteon Pensioners to formally ask that you reconsider your position
with regard to compensating your former employees who have suffered pension
losses since the collapse of the company in March 2009.
We
had hoped to be able to put this request directly to representatives from Ford
Motor Company Limited whom we had invited to meet with us on 5th
March 2013. Unfortunately, however, they declined the invitation and so now I
extend an open invitation to you to meet with us to discuss our campaign for
justice for your former employees.
Also,
considering the points raised in the above mentioned debate and the
determination on the part of Members of Parliament to get justice for their
constituents, we invite you to respond to the debate and our request that you
reconsider in advance of any meeting that might take place.
As
way of background, shortly after my election in 2010, I was contacted by a
number of constituents concerning the collapse of Visteon UK and the
devastating effect this had on their pension rights.
As
you will be aware, following the collapse it emerged that the Visteon UK
pension fund appeared to be underfunded to the tune of around £350m, resulting
in the fund being referred to the Pension Protection Fund in the UK for
assessment. This resulted in many of the pensioners receiving reduced pensions,
in some cases by almost 50% - I, and now many other colleagues, have therefore,
for the last two years, been investigating their cases and looking at ways to
support our constituents.
Amongst
other actions we have met with Joe Greenwell, Chairman, Ford Motor Company
Limited, and members of his team on a number of occasions and would like to
place on record our gratitude for their co-operation and availability to
discuss this matter, although it is a matter of record that this has not resulted
in any progress towards a solution.
Our
constituents submit that Ford did not taken enough care of its employees when
they were transferred from Ford to Visteon UK at the time of spin-off in 2000.
In particular, they feel that their transferred pensions were mis-sold to them
and that assurances which were given at the time by Ford turned out to be
meaningless. This issue is obviously the subject of legal action here in the UK
and will be tested in court at some point during 2013.
Our
constituents also submit that Ford Britain, over the life of Visteon UK, drove
prices down to an extent that the UK operation became totally unviable; again
it is a matter of record that Visteon UK never made a profit in its 10 year
existence.
Our
firm belief is that Visteon was set up to fail, both here in the UK and
elsewhere. Indeed, the new CEO of Visteon Corporation, Tim Leuliette, who when
asked “Did Visteon have a chance when it was spun off” answered simply “NO. The labour cost issues, and the burden and the
overheads were just so out of line with the reality that it was almost
comical. It just wasn't going to work. And it didn't work. I think
we all knew that. It was sort of like when you've got an uncle you
know has got a problem but no one in the family wants to talk about it.”
We
submit that someone somewhere within Ford decided that, in line with other
motor manufacturers, it would be in the best interests of the wider business to
dispose of its parts manufacturing arm, on the basis that it was too expensive,
too labour intensive and that without internal production, cheaper external
production sources could be found.
We
also submit that Ford and its main board directors knew that Visteon UK was
going to lose huge amounts of money, that its costs were going to outstrip its
income and that, at best, whatever its future was, it was not going to be the
same as it was in the past.
Therefore,
because of the actions of Ford, my constituents believe that Ford should make
up the shortfall in their pensions, especially in light of the fact that we are
aware there are still a number of main board directors serving today who would
have been involved in the original spin off.
Morally,
we and our constituents believe Ford has a duty to try and rectify the
situation and to restore the losses people have suffered. Whilst
commercially there may well have been a good argument to spin off Visteon, here
in the UK there has been a real human cost to that action, for which we believe
Ford is morally responsible.
As
William Clay Ford said at the Science Museum in his speech in 2011 to celebrate
the Centenary of Ford in the UK: “I have always thought of Ford employees,
dealers, suppliers and partners as members of our extended family.” We are sure
you will concur that the thing about families is they stick together when
things get tough or go wrong. The constituents we represent felt very much part
of that wider family and now feel very let down.
Many
loyal employees, some who had worked for Ford for 30 years and were only
transferred to Visteon for the last 3 months of their career, are now paying
the price of failure and receiving much reduced pension rights.
Bill
Ford also said: “I want to thank and congratulate all of our employees,
dealers, suppliers and partners for the outstanding job you have done. Because
of your efforts, our centennial is much more than a trip down memory lane – it
is a celebration of a brilliant present and a promising future.” Sentiments we
wholeheartedly agree with, but to have achieved this there have been casualties
along the way – namely the 3000 former Visteon employees whose pensions have
been damaged.
Even
more recently we would draw your attention to Bill Ford’s interview at Wisdom
2.0 conference. Again the sentiment of that interview seems to sit at odds with the
stance the company is taking on this particular issue.
Our
understanding is that no other group of former Ford employees/ex-Visteon
employees have had their pensions affected in the same way, indeed in the US we
are led to believe the employees did not transfer away from Ford, so while they
worked for Visteon, Ford was protecting both their employment and pensions
rights.
This
is an option that we are sure many of the former employees of Visteon would
have liked to have opted for, but the offer was never made, although we believe
there could have been an opportunity for people to have kept their pensions
inside the Ford scheme as there was an inextricable link between Ford and the
new entity, Visteon.
We
would suggest had the US employees of Visteon been affected in the same as
their UK counterparts and were now receiving greatly reduced pension rights,
this issue would have received considerably more publicity in the US than it
currently receives and been treated with a great deal more seriousness than it
currently is.
We
are fully aware that Basildon together with the other factories and the people
they employed are a long way from Dearborn and thus out of sight and therefore
out of mind. But these are people who gave Ford lifelong service and helped
build what is an iconic motor company worthy of the positive reputation it has,
only to find that the guarantees they were given about their pensions were
worthless.
Please
don’t let this difficult situation damage your deserved reputation and consider
how you can rectify this situation to bring the former Ford employees who
transferred to Visteon back into the Ford Family.
We
again ask, in light of your moral responsibilities, that you reconsider your
stance on this issue and do the right thing.
We
look forward to your positive response.
Yours
sincerely
Stephen
Metcalfe
Chairman
– All Party Parliamentary Group in Support of Visteon Pensioners.
Cc:
William C. Ford Jr, Executive Chairman, Ford Motor Company
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