UCATT general secretary George Brumwell has urged the government to introduce compulsory pensions for construction workers.

The government-sponsored Pensions Committee report said there was a £57bn gap between the amount people saved and how much was required to retire.

Brumwell said: “Extending the industry’s largest pension scheme, the B&CE EasyBuild stakeholder pension, to all construction workers will help solve the pension–time crisis.

“Being realistic, that means some form of compulsion.”

He added: “The culture in construction has always been to earn money up front, but make no provision for the future.

“We need to change those attitudes. In my view, a voluntary approach alone will not work – we need to look at compulsory pension contributions by both employers and building workers.”