AA's first strike looms as patrol crews vote against pension plan

• Motorists, such as this one calling the AA on the A70, would suffer if strikes go ahead. Picture: Ian Rutherford

The Independent Democratic Union (IUD), which represents 2,400 of the AA's 2,700 patrollers, said the result showed "widespread anger" over plans to cap staff pensions. Officials threatened to set strike dates unless the UK's biggest breakdown firm held fresh talks.

The union said 57 per cent of its members had backed walkouts in an 87 per cent turnout.

However, the AA said it was confident it could maintain a "good level of service" to its 15 million members if a strike went ahead – without having to call in help from rivals.

It also said the dispute had not affected membership levels since the strike ballot was announced in February.

The GMB union, which represents some patrollers, is also organising a ballot but is checking its membership records are accurate before proceeding.

National officer Paul Maloney said: "Our members have voted in an indicative ballot to reject the pension changes."

IUD national secretary Alistair Maclean said AA staff would lose thousands of pounds under changes to pension payouts, which they found "completely unacceptable".

He said staff had already endured a major shake-up since the AA was taken over by private equity firms CVC and Permira in 2004, with its 10,000-strong workforce cut by one third.

He claimed these firms were "highly profitable", adding: "Staff have gone through a major reorganisation. They have taken all the pain and don't accept that private equity can come in and buy and sell them like a tin of beans.

"They have created a lot of wealth for themselves at the expense of ordinary workers. We need to get back into negotiations to see if we can resolve this. If not, we will set dates for action."

AA president Edmund King said talk of strikes were "premature" because consultation over the pension changes would continue until 23 April.

He said: "Most companies have closed defined benefit (final salary] pension schemes but the AA is endeavouring to keep its scheme open, but put a cap on pensionable earnings.

"It would be easier and cheaper to close it down, so we think we are offering a good deal. We hope there will not be industrial action."

The AA said its pension scheme had an estimated deficit of 190 million last November.

Spokeswoman Sue Beeson said hundreds of non-union patrollers would be used to provide cover on any strike days.

She said: "We are confident we would be able to provide a good level of service in the event of anything happening.

"We would not go to other breakdown organisations."

NO DEAL

PEACE talks aimed at averting four more days of ScotRail conductors' strikes next week collapsed without agreement yesterday.

The train operator accused the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) of "intransigence" after four hours of talks at the conciliation service Acas.

The union has called a three-day strike among some 500 conductors from next Monday to Wednesday, while its sleeper train managers are due to walk out from next Tuesday to Thursday.

Three one-day strikes were held last month in the dispute over drivers taking over control of doors on a new Edinburgh-Glasgow route.

ScotRail ran some 95 per cent of trains using managers.