UK pensioners tell Thomson Reuters they feel they are 'a costly irrelevance'

The chairman of the Pension Review Group, Angela Dean, was denied an opportunity to ask a question at Thomson Reuters’ annual shareholders meeting; the traditional pensioners’ lunches have been “stealthily axed”; and alumni network meetings seem to have been severely cut back, if not cancelled altogether. 

Dean, in a letter to Glocer, said: “Reuters UK pensioners have had no cost of living increase for five of the past eight years, resulting in significant erosion of living standards.”

She attended the AGM at Canary Wharf, London on 14 May with the intention of putting the following question openly and directly to the Thomson Reuters board:

"In the past eight years, because of the iniquitous system of discretionary annual awards – a complete change of practice from the previous 30 years – UK pensioners have suffered a real decrease in the value of their pensions, impacting most severely on those reliant on just a small retirement income from the company. If UK retail price inflation continues at the latest March rate of 4.4 per cent, this deficit could be well into double figures by the time of our next review. 

“When is Thomson Reuters going to do the decent thing and rescue its British based pensioners from the threat of increasing hardship?"

Although the AGM was held in Toronto, UK shareholders had been assured in the meeting notification that there would be a video link.

“Just before the start of the meeting, we were informed that there was no interactive link to Toronto, though no reason was given, and we would have to submit any questions in writing, and they would be answered in due course,” Dean said.

“The AGM opened with a fleeting acknowledgement to shareholders in London and after that there was no other reference to this invisible group that had made the effort to attend the meeting at 5pm on a Friday. Indeed, one was left with the impression from attending that meeting, of being on the margins; we were a small number of shareholders who were probably only pensioners anyway, who did not warrant the financial outlay of an interactive link, and least of all the courtesy of making those in London feel they were part of the larger meeting and the Thomson Reuters Group.” 

Dean said she handed in a written copy of the question but as yet has had no reply.  

“Apart from this affront, I was left with the impression that the London shareholders who took the trouble to attend not only were invisible but non-existent. If my recollection is correct there was just one passing reference at the outset to a presence in London,” she told Glocer.

She added: “This kind of treatment does not befit a significant, wealthy international organisation with supposedly altruistic values.” ■