Locked in a dispute with the company regarding its proposal to change their pension scheme, Tata Steel UK's biggest trade union voted to go on a strike, pushing for the biggest labour action in the British steel sector in the last three decades.
Eighty eight per cent members of the community has voted in favour of going on a strike. “Steelworkers are determined to stand up to Tata,” said Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the community. "We stand on the brink of the first national strike in the steel industry for over 30 years.”
The Union has not given any dates for the strike and said they were calling on Tatas to negotiate.
On contacting Tata Steel, they said the vote was "disappointing" and that they were seeking to work with employees in a balanced way to tackle a pension fund deficit of up to $2 billion. "We also remain hopeful that employees will avoid taking any action that damages our objective of building a successful and sustainable UK business capable of supporting a secure pension scheme."
In an open letter to the employees, the company said Tata's UK operations as a whole were still losing money. The company's parent, India's Tata Steel Ltd, posted a $889 million quarterly loss on May 20, inflated by a hefty impairment on its UK business.
