WATER workers in Chester and Ellesmere Port are among hundreds taking strike action over United Utilities’ alleged plans to cut their staff pension scheme.

Employees who repair pipes, treat waste water, and resolve queries from the public manned picket lines on Friday (March 16) and Monday (March 19).

The strike will impact the whole of the North West region and is the first time such action has been taken since 1992.

It has been called due to a management plan to impose changes to a staff pension scheme from April 1.

Union bosses say the changes will reduce scheme members’ pensions significantly, with younger members of staff due to lose as much as £10,000 per year of their guaranteed income in retirement.

The pension scheme was reported to have a surplus of £248million in March 2017.

Vic Walsh, UNISON North West Regional Organiser said: “United Utilities are making an unnecessary and unjustified grab for the retirement incomes of their workers.

“The pension scheme is in good financial health and there is no need for these changes to be made. It is not too late for management to see sense and stop the strike action by halting their plan.”

United Utilities is said to have paid out more than £1.25billion to shareholders over the past five years and has a target of increasing its dividend payments each year by at least the rate of inflation. The company reportedly paid its chief executive Steve Mogford £2.8million last year.

Mr Walsh added: “While executives and shareholders are doing nicely, attacks are being made on the staff who deliver an essential service to the public. It is wrong that a public utility is being run in this way.”

A spokesman at United Utilities said: “We are disappointed that Unite, Unison and Prospect have asked their members to walk out for two days. Around a third of employees are involved, and we have plans to keep our services running as normal.

“Many organisations have found that final salary pension schemes have become much more expensive to fund and United Utilities is no exception. The costs of keeping our workplace scheme open are predicted to keep on rising to unsustainable levels.

“The unions helped to shape the final version of the new scheme. Rather than scrap the defined benefit scheme as planned, we agreed to introduce a hybrid scheme, which will cost us considerably more. So, we have made considerable concessions already and hope that the unions will show a similar desire to compromise.”