Employers should be made to contribute to occupational pensions and workers should have to join a company scheme in a bid to tackle the country's pensions crisis, a report has urged.

The TUC accused employers of giving in to a herd mentality in shutting down final salary schemes.

Firms should pay twice as much as workers into pension funds.

Research for the TUC showed more than half Britain's workers were not in an occupational scheme while the number of employees covered by final salary pensions had dropped by two million over the last decade.

TUC general secretary John Monks said: "Individuals can never save enough to fund a secure retirement.

"We need a partnership between employers, the state and workers, backed up by legislation to ensure millions do not spend their hard-earned retirement in poverty."

The TUC said final salary schemes were fast disappearing mainly because employers' contribution holidays had come to an end.

The future of the country's pensions system was now top of the trade union agenda.

The Amicus union warned workers were prepared to take industrial action to defend pensions.

The Confederation of British Industry supported the TUC's call for a national pensions debate but warned its specific proposals could accelerate moves away from more expensive pensions.

The challenges facing pension providers were largely caused by the fall in equity markets and the resulting negative impact on pension scheme values.

Employers did not want to offer lower pensions to their staff. But they had to protect the long-term security of their businesses and the pension scheme.