AA staff set to strike during bank holiday over pension

AA PATROL staff are to stage a series of 48-hour strikes over the May bank holiday in a row over pensions in their first walkout in its 105-year history.

The Independent Democratic Union said there had been no response from the motoring organisation after it announced that members had backed strikes by 57 per cent in a ballot of its 2,400 members.

National secretary Alistair Maclean said there was "widespread anger" over plans to cap pensions, accusing senior management of showing "utter contempt" for workers.

Mr Maclean said: "It shows the utter contempt that the senior management team have for the patrols. Such a belligerent stance leads us to believe our worse fears are correct – that these cuts in pension provision are not being introduced, as the AA claims, to protect the long-term security of AA pensions, but are being driven by the private-equity owners squeezing the last drop of blood out of the stone before they sell up and walk away with millions of pounds."

Last night, Edmund King, AA president, said: "The ballot result only came in yesterday and we responded today asking them to come up with an alternative proposal

"Despite being timed to cause maximum disruption, we are happy to reassure members that we have robust contingency plans in place to maintain a good service to members on strike days and will continue to work towards averting the industrial action."