The ASW plant was shut down last year

UK Work and Pensions Secretary Andrew Smith has launched an insurance plan, funded by employers, which will pay out in the event of an employer pension scheme going under.

And in future, solvent employers who choose to wind-up solvent employee pension schemes will have to compensate workers in full.

But the new measures are unlikely to help those hit by the closure of the Allied Steel and Wire (ASW) works in Cardiff.

Around 800 staff were told they had lost both their jobs and most of their pensions when Allied Steel and Wire collapsed last July.

If this proves to be the case, we will be extremely disappointed and the campaign will continue Roy Rickhuss, ISTC Union

Mr Smith said the pension reforms would not be applied retrospectively to ex-workers who have already lost their pensions.

He added that he did not want to raise false hopes among those who have lost pensions and said the experience of the ex-ASW workers showed why the new measures were needed.

Roy Rickhuss of the ex-workers' ISTC union, said it was ironic that the ASW workers would not benefit from the change in the law their plight had helped bring about.

He said: "If this proves to be the case, we will be extremely disappointed and the campaign will continue."

'Disappointing'

Ex-ASW worker Peter Jackson added: "It is disappointing if (the new scheme) is not going to be of any help to us."

Under current laws, if a firm goes into receivership, workers have to wait behind other creditors before finding out whether they will receive a pension.

Staff from Cardiff joined the march on Sunday

On Sunday, steelworkers from Cardiff joined a march in London highlighting the problems with pensions caused when companies collapse.

Around 60 former workers at the ASW plant took part in the demonstration which also handed in a petition to No 10 demanding compensation for their lost pensions.

More than 500 people converged for the march which was organised by workers from the ASW sister plant in Sheerness, Kent, which went into receivership 11 months ago.

Many of the 1,300 former steelworkers who were employed in both plants have lost up to 90% of their pension with their employers' collapse.

Production restarted

The government announced its plans for pension reform in a Green Paper last December.

In the paper, the idea of an insurance policy funded by either lower scheme benefits or increased contributions was not ruled out.

But at the time many industry experts criticised the government for having largely ignored the plight of workers whose schemes face closure.

Last week it was announced that Spanish firm Celsa, the new owner of the ASW plant, would restart production at the Tremorfa site.

It will take on around 400 staff, and it is believed around 200 contractors will also be taken on.

Many of the 800 workers made redundant have not found new jobs and are surviving on state benefits.

The former ASW workers in Cardiff are making separate moves to try to take the UK government to court over the loss of the pensions.