Drakeford backs steel workers' calls for pension justice

WALES' finance minister Mark Drakeford has urged the UK Government to put right a “pension injustice” affecting ex-steel-workers who worked at a Cardiff plant.

- RUTH MOSALSKI Political editor

(Peter Bolter)

His words are a huge boost to pensioners who have worked tirelessly for justice.

The ex-workers at Allied Steel and Wire (ASW), which went bust in Cardiff in 2002, have fought for decades to put right something which has seen them receive a fraction of what they expected through their pensions.

After ASW went bust the firm told staff there was a £21m shortfall in the pension scheme and their pensions would need to be reduced by 85%.

Just shy of 900 people who worked at ASW were left in the same position, facing a bleak end to their lives through no fault of their own.

A deal brokered by Peter Hain in 2007 gave them and other victims of similar pensions scandals 90% of their lost savings through what was called the Financial Assistance Scheme. However, it was only designed as a compensation scheme.