AS voters head to the polls for the General Election, the city’s Mini Plant workers have a final chance to cast their votes on whether to take or leave BMW’s final pension offer.

Talks between Unite union reps and staff at the Cowley factory will come to a head when a strike ballot ends tomorrow.

The Oxford Mail can reveal workers have been offered two deals by BMW bosses after the firm moved to close its final salary pension scheme.

Workers have a choice of taking a £25,000 tax free payment as an extra contribution into their pension or a payment of £22,000 over three years, which would be subject to tax and national insurance deductions.

Both options would see the final salary scheme closed, and workers on the scheme moved to a defined contribution pension.

Opinion is split on the production lines, with sources suggesting there is a distinct divide between younger employees, workers aged between 40 and 55 and others nearing retirement.

If workers reject BMW’s offers it will result in more strikes at the plant, following on from action earlier this year.

Senior union rep Roland Higgs, 63, from Bicester, said it was ‘difficult to call’ whether strike action would be voted for.

He added: “It’s a bit split, I would say Oxford is a close call.

“[The offer] could be better because of the money people are losing.

“The hardest hit are people in their mid-40 to mid-50s who are looking to get a better pension.”

Workers at other BMW plants at Swindon, Hams Hall in North Warwickshire and Goodwood in West Sussex are also voting.

Mr Higgs said if workers accepted the company’s offers they could be affected by changes in the economic climate at the time that they retire.

He said: “On the new scheme the employee takes the risk.

“On the current one, the company takes part of the risk.”

It is understood a worker earning £30,000 a year would lose out on about £500 in pension pay each year if the existing scheme is scrapped.

Unite said it would not comment ahead of the ballot closing, but previously said while it does not recommend the offer, it thinks members should ‘consider the detail’.

A source at the plant said: “The morale is very low at the moment, with this happening for the last eight to 10 months.

“It will be very interesting to see what the ballot will be.”

BMW has said it believes the offer to be ‘fair and in the long-term interests of both the company and all our employees’.