Staff at outsourcing firm Capita are set to strike over cuts to their pensions after last-minute talks broke down, their union Unite announced yesterday.

Unite had postponed industrial action to hold talks at conciliation service Acas but said strikes were back on after Capita bosses refused to make a reasonable offer.

Unite members will take nine days of strike action from Saturday October 28 after a whopping 95 per cent of members voted in favour on a turnout of 72 per cent.

The dispute centres on the firm’s plans to move its workers from a defined-benefit scheme to a defined-contribution scheme, which Unite says would see staff lose up to 70 per cent of their retirement income.

Unite regional officer Dominic Hook said: “There is no justification for highly profitable Capita to treat its workforce in this manner.”

Mr Hook urged Capita bosses to rethink the proposals as Unite called on companies which outsource contracts to the IT and infrastructure giants to intervene and settle “this betrayal of staff.”