FORMER Visteon workers joined forces with retired Ford workers to protest over changes to their pension schemes.

In January, the car firm said it was intending to use the Consumer Price Index rather than the Retail Price Index to calculate inflation for pension payments, a move which angered staff as they could lose up to £90,000 over the course of a 25-year retirement.

The change would affect current employees and 30,000 former workers from Ford sites, including Dunton and Dagenham.

Yesterday, retired staff from the car giant’s British plants, including Swansea and Bridgend, Wales, made their feelings known outside Ford’s headquarters in Eagle Way, Brentwood.

Members of the pension action group for Ford offshoot Visteon joined the protests to show their support for Ford staff, though they are not directly affected.

Andy Belch, 62, of Knollcroft, Shoebury, who worked for Ford and Visteon for 38 years, said: “We have got a common cause with the Ford workers and we feel like we are comrades in arms as we worked with the company for most of out professional careers before being spun off.

“Ford workers from all over the country have come here today to demonstrate and we want to show Ford we are a combined force and pensions are a serious matter.”

When Visteon collapsed in 2009, workers lost money from their pension funds and have been fighting to get back what they put in.

Former Visteon worker David Weeks, 60, of Moreland Close Benfleet, said workers are still fighting their own cause as they are still hurt by the losses they suffered. Mr Weeks, who worked with the company for 35 years, said: “As my pension went into the pension protection fund, I am losing 35 per cent of it. Ford management promised us our pensions would be protected for life and when they say something like it is protected you tend to believe them.”

A Ford spokesman said: “In July 2010 the Government announced the Consumer Price Index, rather than the Retail Price Index, provides a more appropriate measure of pension recipient’s inflation experience. In December 2010, the Government confirmed its position.

“The Ford pension funds are required to pay pension increases in line with provisions that cross-refer to the relevant legislation. This means the pension increase set by the Government under the order made in December applies to eligible Ford pension fund members.”