Unite to ballot members in Tata Steel pensions row

The changes could see employees working for longer before retiring

The Unite union is to ballot its members at Tata Steel on taking industrial action over pension changes.

Unite said it would issue ballots to all of its 6,000 members at the company over the coming weeks, with the result due on 5 June.

The GMB, Community and Ucatt unions have already begun a ballot with a result due before the end of this month.

Proposed changes to the scheme could see workers retiring at 65 not 60.

Tata Steel employs about 17,000 workers at plants in Scunthorpe, Rotherham, Hartlepool and Redcar and at sites in Wales and Scotland.

The company said its pension fund was facing a financial shortfall due to people living longer and low returns on the financial market.

A spokesman said: "We proposed modifications to the final salary pension scheme which would have enabled it to remain open.

"However, agreement could not be reached with the unions, which prompted the start of a consultation process on proposals to switch the majority of UK employees to different, though still very competitive, pension arrangements."

Paul Reuter, from Unite, said the decision to ballot was made following five months of negotiations between the trade unions and the company.

"Tata Steel UK has decided that it is ideologically wrong for employees, who have worked hard in an extremely strenuous and physically demanding environment, to be able to retire with the pensions that they were originally promised," he said.

The company said it was still consulting employees about the proposed changes and remained open to unconditional talks with the unions.