Kraft Foods gets tough with Cadbury
It has been revealed that Kraft Foods will this week announce a review of the Cadbury pension scheme and up to 150 job cuts. While news of the job cuts is disappointing to say the least it is the situation regarding the company's pension scheme which should worry unions and employees more.
It is believed that Kraft Foods is going to close the Cadbury final salary pension scheme to new members and increase employee contributions. This is the first major change made by Kraft Foods since the acquisition of Cadbury and does not bode well for the future with regards to promised investment in the UK operation. While the unions will obviously attempt to reduce the impact of these moves it would appear that Kraft Foods is determined to push these changes through as quickly as possible.
While in many ways it was inevitable that Kraft Foods would look to make wholesale changes within Cadbury it is the speed at which these changes are appearing which is causing concern. In reality the unions will have very little say in the matter as will the UK government but it does strengthen the stance taken by Lord Mandelson regarding the potential future protection of UK companies.
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