NETHERLANDS - Progress, the €4bn pension fund of Unilever Netherlands, has granted its active participants an indexation of 4.03% over 2007.

Compensation for inflation is based on the salary rises, as agreed in the collective labour agreement (CAO), the scheme said.

The indexation applies to the pension rights of all workers born before 1950 who are on average salary arrangements, Progress made clear.

As agreed with the unions, the indexation is unconditional until 2013, and therefore not dependent on the scheme's financial position, according to the pension fund.

Conditional indexation only applies to the pension build-up for the salary part of over €67,500, and depends on Progress' returns during the past five years.

However, because both the scheme's financial position and returns are sufficient, the unconditional part will also be indexed by 4.03%, it pointed out.

Progress changed its final salary scheme last year to average salary arrangements.

As a result, all workers started paying pension contributions, amounting to a half percent of their salary between €12,209 and €58,993. The 1%-contribution over any salary over this limit was kept unchanged.

The Unilever scheme has almost 25,700 participants in total and its coverage ratio was 155% at the end of 2006.

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