Men strip off in pensions battle

The former steelworkers brave the cold at the Labour Conference

A group of former steelworkers bared all on Brighton beach to protest at being "stripped" of their pensions when their employers went into liquidation.

The men were among 300 made redundant from ASW in Sheerness, Kent in 2002.

They braved the cold and stripped to their underpants to draw government attention to their plight at the Labour Party conference at Brighton Centre.

"I am a quiet, shy man most of the time but we have to make our point," said 55-year-old engineer Gordon Dodd.

It shows the government that we are not going away, that we will keep fighting and we will be an embarrassment to them. Gordon Dodd

The government has changed the law since 2002 to compensate workers whose firms go bust but only for people within three years of retirement.

Mr Dodd and his colleagues are too young to qualify.

"I paid pension contributions for 26 years, and I feel I have been robbed," said Mr Dodd, from Sittingbourne.

"My wife and I worry about the future. We have our house, but it is going to have to go to finance our retirement.

Occupational pensions

"This is an important day. It shows the government that we are not going away, that we will keep fighting and we will be an embarrassment to them."

An estimated 85,000 workers across Britain have lost occupational pensions after their employers went into administration or out of business.

The Pensioners' Action Group has been protesting outside Labour conferences for the past three years.

Peter Humphrey, 62, from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, worked for engineering firm Dexion, which went out of business two years ago.

"The Government has let us down because they could have stepped in to help people like us," he said.