Recent Announcement of Unilateral change to Your Ulster Bank Pension Scheme (NI) - UB 02/26 - Ulster Bank NI

UB 02/26

We are writing to you regarding a serious development relating to the Ulster Bank Pension Scheme (NI) that will have a direct impact on your future earnings.

By now, you should have received notice from your employer regarding changes being made to your pension benefits if you are affected within this scheme. Without any prior warning, negotiation, or even the courtesy of a conversation, the Bank & Trustee have unilaterally decided to cut the cap on maximum pension increases for service after 2005 from 5% to 2.5%.

This is being justified by an extraordinary claim: that the scheme rules have been “wrongly interpreted” for over 20 years.

FSU does not accept this. We condemn it in the strongest possible terms.

This is not a minor technical adjustment. This is a direct attack on the retirement planning members have legitimately built their future upon for decades and will impact immediately and into the future for any staff whose service commenced before 2005. You planned your future around a promise. That promise is now being broken—not due to any change in scheme funding, but because the Bank claims a two-decade-long practice was an “error.”

This change will immediately and permanently reduce the future cap on increases to your pension. To label this an “error” after twenty years is, in our view, a profound breach of trust.

Beyond the injustice of the cut itself, the manner in which this has been imposed is a blatant and unacceptable breach of our Collective Agreement, which guarantees union engagement on all matters relating to pay, pensions, and terms and conditions.

NatWest imposed this change without any prior consultation or discussion with your Union. This is not how our members should be treated. This is contempt for the collective bargaining structures that exist to protect you.

Our Immediate Response

We have sent a strong formal letter to the CEO of NatWest. Our demands are clear:

• An immediate stop to any change. We have demanded a full pause on implementation.
• A full and transparent independent review of the scheme’s history and the bank’s claims.
• Hosting of in person meetings by the Bank & Trustees with pension scheme members to give the opportunity to you to ask and receive answers to relevant questions. The bank and pension trustees must attend urgent in person meetings with pension scheme members in Belfast. You have earned the right to demand and receive answers. Hiding behind letters is not acceptable.

FSU completely and wholly opposes this change. We do not accept the Bank’s justification that the last 20 years was a ‘mistake’. We believe the practice could have continued if the will was there on the part of the Bank and trustees to ensure it could.

We condemn the manner in which this has been done, and we will seek answers on your behalf.

What Happens Next

The CEO deferred to the pension team to respond on his behalf, and they have reinforced their position that they believe the Bank has behaved appropriately in this matter.

Your Union continues to push its above claim and seek engagement from the Bank in an acceptable manner. Please be assured that your Union is taking this seriously and is pursuing every avenue to defend your pension rights.

For further information please contact your Sector Committee member, details below:

Mandy La Combre

Senior Industrial Relations Officer