It might be a bit clichéd but the profile of the bp pension campaign aligns itself very neatly with the iceberg principle.
There is the tip, the most visible element. This consists of the members of the bp pensioner campaign group. In keeping with the iceberg analogy, beneath them resides the invisible element, made up of 60,000 pensioners who for a variety of reasons remain unseen. You could assert that above the water lies The What, while below the water lies The Why.
The members of the bp pensioner campaign group are essentially acting as a voice for the whole bp pensioner community, many of whom don’t use social media or may be unable to engage more directly due to personal circumstances.
The demographics of this group are understandably varied but what they share is motive, need, wants, concerns and fears where the management of the bp pension is concerned. Every one of them has been affected by the decision not to maintain the pension in line with inflation these past two years and it is vital for everyone’s sake that this shortfall is redressed.
Today signatories at the tip of the iceberg have requested action from bp on behalf of us all. They have called for bp to restore the 11% loss of pension value in the last two years.
Let us hope the bp leadership wake up to the true scale of the challenge from bp pensioners that they have on their hands. BP pensioners are shareholders, they are folk who loved and were loyal to the company for many years and as such they represent 60,000 ambassadors for the company. That’s a lot of support to lose for no good reason.
It’s time to change course bp.
After all, many good ships have been lost colliding with icebergs, let’s hope they don’t let the bp ship flounder on this one.