BP Pensioner Group

“A real reminder that an organisation is bigger than one or two individuals and that those who happen to have real power have to be really careful to walk the talk in everything they do, so please BP board, don’t sit on your hands, stand up and walk the talk, pay the pensions you and your predecessors promised.”

“Clearly when we now look at the current leadership and their attitude towards the DB participants we were naive in believing the values of the leadership would transcend all CEOs without exception.”

“It is time for the Chairman and Independent Directors to do their jobs and accept that BP has made a big mistake.”

“It’s not a good look for any Board to approve double digit dividend increases whilst rejecting for the first time ever a discretionary increase to their pensioners at a time of high inflation.”

“For BP, this is undoubtedly a Scandal in the Making.”

“When I worked for BP in HR I was told that BP’s pension scheme was the best around. I’m ashamed for the part I played in continuing this apparent myth. When I chose to take my pension 2 years ago, I still believed the BP scheme would be better than transferring it into my SIPP. It seems I was wrong. I’m proud to be part of the pensions action group and hope that the BP board may reconsider their betrayal of decent values towards their former staff.”

“The Board of BP really do need to sit down and reflect on what has been done to us and accept that it is not fair, not right and not ethical.”

“I feel betrayed by the management, at a time when there are record profits, a healthy pension fund, and the senior leadership is awarding itself a huge benefits package.”

“Over 41 years of service with bp in the UK. Once proud to work for bp but now really sad at the total betrayal of bp UK pensioners.”

“Not what we should expect in return for our years of dedicated service that contributed to where bp is today. Discarded and betrayed.”

“The bp index linked Pension was one of the reasons why many of us chose to work for bp and why, as pensioners, we now feel betrayed.”

“I view the refusal to meet plus the possible intent to hive off the pension fund as a betrayal.”

“The pension was used to attract top quality employees and to retain them. It was part of a contract. You don’t get to tear up the contract just because you’ve had the bit you wanted.”

“I feel deeply betrayed by a management team who are no longer “walking the talk” and applying the bp principles that we all were proud to promulgate and adhered to.”

“I recall how well BP cared for pensioners in the past, it was a major factor in my buying in more pension years by salary and bonus sacrifice. What a bad investment that is turning out to be as I am now powerless to recover the income sacrificed years ago.”

“I understood that my service would be rewarded through the DB Pension which would be protected from inflation, but how quickly things change, how quickly the value the company said it felt for me the days leading up to my retirement disappeared!”

“It makes me very sad to see the company now and how we are being treated after so many years loyal service.”

“I had over 30 great years with BP and will never complain how I was treated. It saddens me to read and hear from so many BP pensioners that feel our company no longer cares about the folk that help build it.”

“It’s a big mistake to alienate 60,000 influential and previously loyal and supportive employees.”

“Many older folks are now worried about their and their dependents futures. They are very upset that the company has broken its promise to them.”

“Core Values are like foundation stones. When one looks a bit shaky you inevitably wonder about the others.”

“It is particularly troubling (and hard to reconcile with its published values) that bp focused its attention on a stakeholder group who cannot vote with their feet.”

“I am concerned that bp seem to be picking and choosing when to apply its stated values.”

“The actions of the bp leadership do not correlate with their bold people-oriented spiel. There’s no substance to what they say anymore. They’ve been found out.”

“I don’t recognise BP’s actions as that of the same company whose values meant so much to me.”

“My family and I made significant sacrifices but were supported by the knowledge that bp were a caring company which had high moral standards.”

“What on earth happened to bp Values?”

“For me, ‘BP at its best’ also included the caring side of the business, ensuring all employees, communities and stakeholders were listened to and looked after.”

“BP has prided itself on taking the moral high ground in the past, but that would appear to be changing.”

“Pensioners accept that they are taking a cut in their income on retirement, but do not expect a permanent further cut due to bp’s moral failure.”

“What happened to doing the right thing and showing compassion for the many pensioners only low incomes.”

“BPs Code of Conduct says, “We care for others by putting ourselves in other people’s shoes, prioritizing the team and most of all by being kind.” By failing to acknowledge or meet the pensioner reps you appear to be rejecting your own Code.”

“Such visible deviation by bp from what is supposed to be a deeply held guiding principle could lead to increased levels of scepticism and distrust about the authenticity of everything they claim to stand for.”

“BP seems to ignore the values that it says are important within the BP Code of Conduct.”

“I think I’d be a bit concerned that bp seemed to be picking and choosing when to apply its stated values.”

“I cannot believe BP has become morally and ethically corrupt at the stroke of a pen.”

“Promises made in the past should be kept. It is the ethical, and indeed legally required, way a company should operate.”

“Time to reconsider your position and engage for the 1st time genuinely and openly with the #care #respect #fairness you espouse.”

“Refusing to meet or discuss the issue with representatives, closing the door and a series of less than accurate statements on the subject really calls into question the judgement of the Board and Stakeholder relations.”

“While pensioners who have years of loyal service to BP are now refused the increase in line with RPI that was their expectation, rewards for those treating their former colleagues in this way are awarded increases of over 100% on pay packages that are already extremely high. I live in hope that sanity will return, and meaningful dialogue will be entered into by BP management, the pension fund trustees and representatives of the pensioners.”

“I am now retired and am very sad to say that I feel myself and my fellow pensioners are being treated in a less than equitable manner. It feels like we are no longer important.”

“My fellow pensioners and I seem to be very much in the background and certainly not treated in an equitable manner. It feels like we are no longer important and being ignored. This could be a good time to open the door to talking to the pensioners and not ignoring them.”

“I can look back very happily over a long and varied working life with my time at bp as one I truly loved. I think that is why, as a pensioner, it’s now so upsetting to be treated with what feels like contempt by the company I gave lots to and thought it would give lots back in return, including looking after my pension. We are not being looked after equitably.”

“We are being treated as though we are greedy – but all we want is a fair increase to keep up with the current high inflation, which is both fair and reasonable.”

“Time to fix the issue in a way that shows empathy, fairness and helps restores trust.”

“I don’t mind comparisons being made but they have to be fair, not cherry picked to suit a particular agenda. So sad and disappointed that BP has come to this.”

“The success of present employees of all categories is, to an extent, benefiting from what we pensioners passed on to them.  Rules are only one factor; fairness is another. In my long experience of BP, it has behaved fairly – until now.”

“Staff work hard to achieve their rewards and deserve all they get. Basic pay is just one element. However, pensioners also deserve to be treated with fairness and respect. BP should stand by their commitments to pensioners made over decades.”

“How on earth can BP give around 99% of BP staff a one-off ‘cost of living’ payment of 6% of salary in December 2022 and reject a discretionary increase for the DB pension scheme.  This payment to BP staff acknowledges the hard times we are all facing, but then the CEO vetoes a discretionary increase for pensioners.  It’s bizarre.”

“A lack of real terms pay increase actually delivers a pay decrease. For those of us who are receiving less than the average pension that is the cruelest cut.”

“Decision making behind a financial spreadsheet easier than thinking about real people with real lives.”

“All we have asked for is to be treated fairly and, to do that, one has to make appropriate comparisons. Comparing the basic salary of an employee vs a pensioner just doesn’t stack up as we know there are many more benefits on top for the employee. We understand that and have no problem with that, but it needs to be clear for those who may not be aware. We also need others to understand that it was the Trustees who requested the discretionary increase and NOT the pensioners. The Trustees would only make such a request if it is deemed essential, affordable and fair.”

“I was proud to work for bp, but it breaks my heart to say that I no longer feel that way.”

“This isn’t about greed it’s about principles and loyalty to staff who helped to make them the company they are today.”

“A company that pensioners literally gave their working lives to and backed them to the hilt through some tough times, today seems to show no reciprocal loyalty given how they have been left to struggle through the cost-of-living crisis.”

“Along with many others who worked for BP, we worked lots more hours than contracted, and gave greater than 100% to BP, we were very loyal employees. It is extremely disappointing that bp in turn is not providing that loyalty back to us, their pensioners, who have helped build their business.”

“Certainly, the material bp published and which I used to decide to contribute ££ into my pension, said that it intended to increase my pension in line with RPI. That was the employment bargain. I did my part, working extremely hard and loyally. Now I am in receipt of my pension, and there is nothing I can do to change my part of the bargain, bp fails to live up to its part.”

“The current leadership team have completely dismissed the caring and respectful mantra of their highly respected predecessors and are now causing untold suffering, hardship and mental health issues for many of the company’s senior citizens and their dependents, while demonstrating that the values of the company aspires to deliver, do not extend to their former employees. Never did I think that, in my mid 70’s, I would be involved in a confrontation with bp because they refuse to match inflation as they had for the previous 20 years that I had been retired.”

“I wonder if individuals at senior level with personal values and purpose that claim to protect those without a voice, are doing what they claim? Is bp really a company that is willing to allow pensioners to live an increasingly unsustainable life and with mental health a real concern?”

“Facing a permanent 11% loss in value to my pension has triggered my mental health issues again and I am really struggling to cope and can’t stop worrying about how I will manage moving forward. This additional stress reignites the toughest times at bp as we are not being listened to, which is traumatising and does not help me (or my family) at all.”

“After 33 years loyal service I was made redundant and used as much of my redundancy money to boost my pension as I could, so what is happening now is another kick in the teeth, reducing my pension in real terms by 11%. This is impacting my mental health.”

“Why can’t you respect and thank BP pensioners who built the company that we used to be so proud of?”

“The way that the pensioners have been treated is very poor and I have lost a lot of respect for the decision making in the company. It does not seem to be living up to its own values.”

“RESPECT in bp certainly WAS a core value but we see little evidence of it being there now.
Is this change of heart down to the CEO and the CFO? Or does it spread wider to the Leadership Team?”

“I still struggle to comprehend why BP are treating us like this, displaying total disrespect for us and the role we played in building the company. A firmly shut door with no clear explanation just isn’t how I remember the company I loyally served for 32 years.”

“I’m not sure what it means to say respect is a core value at BP. A value cannot be “core” if senior managers are not consistently held accountable for adhering to it, and if others are too afraid to speak up or do anything about its disregard.”

“Lack of respect to those who contributed so much to building the Company bringing it to the level it is today – all that hard work forgotten!”

“It’s disrespectful for BP to disregard their pensioners’ case for the increase in pension to be in line with the inflation rate.”

“BP today is built not only by the excellent hard-working teams of today, but also by standing on the shoulders of the many excellent hard-working teams that have gone before. BP rejecting the Pension Trust’s recommendation for discretionary increase in pensions leaves those hard-working people that went before poorer in real terms.”

“I spent much of my 33 years with the company promoting BP as valuing integrity, honesty and genuinely caring for people and the wider community. It feels to me now that all that has gone and that those former employees who helped build a great company are now viewed as worthless.”

“It appears bp is now a very different company to that which I worked for from 1966 to 2002 and, as a result, chooses to treat its pensioners as third-class citizens, without a thought or care about their wellbeing, while the board line their own pockets with excessive salary and benefits increases. The board of bp has become completely out of touch with its former employees, people who helped bp to become what it is today.”

“I think you’ll find that we’re staying disciplined, we’re staying the course – we’re delivering the plan. After all you learnt it from us.”

“What happened to those who made bp great? Those pensioners whose great work you are now enjoying the benefits of?”

“Is it fair to deny pensioners a modest increase in line with previous promises whilst the company they helped to build continues to reap the rewards of their labours?”

“Different attitude and mindset about those who contributed so much to the success of the Company.”

“We were always told we had one of the best Pension Funds in the business and would be protected. Another broken promise with no recognition of what we all did to build the company to where it is today.”

“We helped the company get where it is, it’s not only the team today, but also the team who put all the effort into this in the first place.”

“It’s so sad that a once great and caring company can so easily dismiss the very people who helped make it what it is now.”

“We built the company on sound principles; it would be good for our successors to remember these values and act appropriately.”

“It is causing anxiety for my wife and I and considerable anger at the double standards exhibited by bp.”

“As you may be aware, it has seriously impacted the wellbeing of thousands of your former employees.”

“When I pass away my pension will be cut for my wife, but her bills won’t. This on top of losing 11% so far of my pension, the Cumulative effect of this is very worrying for many bp pensioners.”

“I’m suffering sleepless nights of worry about my pension not keeping up with inflation over the next 30 years. BP is causing me real stress and mental anguish.”

“My pension is well below the average. Whilst in receipt of my state pension, the GMP element of my BP pension does not cover the SERPS element. Had I not been married I would be struggling to make ends meet. At a time when I am recovering from an 18-month treatment cycle for cancer, this has been a very stressful time for me.”

“Whereas I always thought my spouse would at least have a secure future if anything happened to me, I am now very anxious that she may be left struggling.”

“I am really worried about the impact on bereaved spouses too – so many will be taking a real hit in these hard times and not be able to do anything about it.”

“Over recent months, bp has more than amply demonstrated that, very sadly, it can no longer be trusted. It’s been said that trust is earned over the years and lost in an instant…this is so true of the bp we are now experiencing and is light years away from the bp I worked for over a 36-year career.”

“We all pulled together through the challenging times to get the company through to the other side, knowing that trust was mutual, that wrongs would be put right, and a full investigation completed to ensure it would never happen again.”

“Trust, once lost, can be so difficult to regain. We completely trusted the company, expected the bp leadership to always operate with a high level of integrity and no small measure of empathy. What’s happened? When did the heart and soul disappear from the company?”

“I had the utmost respect for bp. My father would be turning in his grave if he knew that this is the company that he gave the majority of his life for. I joined when those values still held true but no longer. It is so sad, and I feel sorry for those employees still there as who are they to believe now.”

“It’s about trust; 33 years to build, 30 seconds to delete.”

“I suspect it isn’t just current employees and pensioners who will have lost trust in the company.”

“During my career offers came along for me to move to other companies, but I never moved because I felt really comfortable with the values of the company. In short, I trusted the company, it never let me down in any area where it really mattered. So, I was really shocked and saddened by the recent turn of events with the pension fund.”

“I have little doubt that the company’s recent decisions will have eroded not just pensioner trust, but that of the existing employees.”

“When I joined the company in the early 70s it was a different company. It was one in which I had trust, and this is the way it stayed until 2 years ago.”

The bp leadership have lost their way where the bp pensioners are concerned. They will have some work to do when they re-find it, to rebuild at least some of that trust they’ve lost.”

“Trust is hugely powerful. It takes time to gain but can be quickly eroded and can’t be ring-fenced.”

“From day 1 in the company, we trusted the management and their commitment to deliver increases to our pensions in line with the cost of living. Often salaries were more attractive outside of the company but many of us were kept on the hook of the ‘gold plated’ or ‘golden handcuffs’ pensions promised to us.”

“I responded to what I experienced, which was a company that cared about the welfare of its people and that extended to providing them with a good pension for their retirement. So, I trusted them. I want to trust them still, but they’re making it incredibly difficult!”

“Trust was earned and acknowledged over 36 working years but lost virtually overnight…and purely down to the actions of the current leadership team.”

“Like most people who worked for BP during their careers I trusted BP’s promise to pay an index-linked pension to provide my family and myself with financial security during my retirement. Sadly, that trust has been betrayed by the current senior management team.”

“What about the blue-collar workers that have supported you in difficult operational environments during your career and now retired with dependents? Please do the right thing and embrace their concerns.”

“You have quickly forgotten your former UK employees, leaving them alone during the cost-of-living crisis with many genuinely suffering hardship that you choose to turn a blind eye to. It is a modern-day scandal.”

“I am really worried about the impact on bereaved spouses too – so many will be taking a real hit in these hard times and not be able to do anything about it.”

“We are fighting this as many pensioners have no voice and are kept in the dark by bp.”

“I don’t depend on my BP Pension, which is relatively small, but many of the people who I worked with at the coal face for some great years, Operators, Boardmen Technicians, Firemen, do. Quite a few of them have passed away leaving a widow, whose husband worked for BP for decades, dependant on their pension. It is to the shame of BPs board that they have refused the cost-of-living increase to these pensioners at a time when there is minimal impact to BP. Please do the right thing and stand for something.”

“So completely unnecessary of you to pick a fight with thousands of defenceless dependant pensioners… You could have looked heroic but instead chose to look the other way.”

“I worry particularly for the ‘silent generation’ of BP pensioners. Over 16,000 BP pensioners are in their 80s & 90s. Many will be facing escalating care costs either at home or in residential care; and at a time when the UK’s ‘safety net’ state funded social care system is in crisis (Source: BMA). This is a situation many more of us may find ourselves in, one day.”