Black Country steelworkers set to be balloted for industrial action

The company says talks between management and unions over the future of pensions at the company have broken down, with the two sides "unable to come to an agreement".

Union officials accused the steel giant of being 'hell bent' on closing the scheme, affecting around 17,000 workers, warning they were on the brink of a major industrial dispute for the first time in 30 years.

Community, the GMB and Unite are now preparing plans to ballot their members nationwide for industrial action.

In addition to major steelworks in South Wales and Scunthorpe, Tata Steel employs nearly 600 people at its Steelpark site in Wednesfield and also operates sites in Walsall, Darlaston and Brierly Hill.

Roy Rickhuss, chairman of the union co-ordinating committee, said: "Tata Steel's decision to close the British Steel Pension Scheme is unnecessary and profoundly disappointing. It is not a position we expected to find ourselves in, given that trade unions have been in discussions with the company since early November.

"We have made every effort to compromise with the company, even discussing the possibility of meeting the deficit through changes to member benefits, despite the fact the company is legally obliged to pay for the deficit and has always done so in the past.

"Sadly, the company rejected this offer out of hand. It appears they are hell bent on closing the scheme and are not prepared to compromise. We have lost all faith in the company and its leadership, which has brought us to the brink of a major national industrial dispute for the first time in over 30 years.

"We feel we have no option but to consult our members and prepare to ballot for industrial action to defend their hard-won pension rights."

A Tata Steel spokesman said: "The company and the trade unions have had a number of meetings to discuss the preliminary actuarial valuation of the British Steel Pension Scheme as at March 31, 2014. Those discussions have been held in a constructive and transparent atmosphere.

"We have been unable come to an agreement that would have enabled defined benefit benefit provision to continue and will be consulting employees on a proposal to close the defined benefit scheme to future accrual. It is proposed that future pension provision will be on a defined contribution basis.

"We remain committed to providing employees with competitive future pension provision."