Rolls-Royce workers staged a demonstration outside Parliament yesterday as part of a protest against the company's plans to cut pension benefits by up to 20%.

About 100 workers from plants including Derby, Sheffield, Bristol and Glasgow, briefed MPs on what they described as a pensions "robbery" immediately before the company's annual parliamentary business presentation.

Amicus said the engineering group had rejected union proposals, including increased contributions, and was pressing ahead with plans to cut benefits.

The union is threatening to hold a strike ballot unless the dispute is resolved and regional officer Glen Johnson said: "Pensions are not company patronage. They are deferred earnings and should be treated as such. Rolls-Royce has £19bn worth of orders on its books so there is time to find a reasonable solution before the workforce ends up on strike."