Plaid AM urges Tata workers to reject 'unacceptable' pension deal

Tata Steel workers have been urged to reject the "unacceptable" pension deal that will be voted on later this month.

The company made a commitment to secure jobs and production at Port Talbot and its other steelworks in December.

But Plaid AM Adam Price said Tata was being "opportunistic", adding workers should ask it to rethink the offer.

A Tata spokesman said it could not comment while the consultation with workers was under way.

It was hoped Tata's deal could bring an end to eight months of uncertainty for thousands of workers who faced losing their jobs when Tata's UK business was put up for sale.

The measures included:

• A guaranteed, minimum five-year commitment to keeping two blast furnaces at the Port Talbot plant

• A 10-year £1bn investment plan to support steel making at the site

• A commitment to seek to avoid compulsory redundancies for five years

• A consultation on replacing the current pension with a "defined contribution scheme" involving maximum contributions of 10% from the company and 6% from employees.

Mr Price told BBC Radio Wales's Sunday Supplement programme: "The economic climate that the steel industry faces in 2017 has been radically transformed.

"The medium-term outlook has improved and profitability has returned to Port Talbot.

"In this context it is by no means a forgone conclusion that the Tata steel workers will accept the pension deal on offer to the workers in the union ballot later this month."

'Inconceivable'

He claimed the company was "using the events of the last 12 months to pressure workers".

"In my view the workers would be wise to ask the company to think again, and to come back to the table with a firm guarantee in terms of the employment pact and the investment," he added.

"It is also inconceivable that such a large and powerful conglomerate should be allowed to walk away from its existing pension liabilities.

"If Tata is not prepared to do this, the company should be nationalised on a temporary basis and talks reopened with those firms that have been waiting in the wings to buy it."

Almost 7,000 people are employed by Tata Steel across Wales, including more than 4,000 in Port Talbot.

A spokesman for the Steel Committee, that represents all the unions across Tata, said: "Whilst respecting Mr Price's opinion, it is vital that the workforce fully understand the proposal that they will be asked to consider at the end of this month.

"In that regard, the Pensions Office are currently embarked on a series of road shows, going out to plants, explaining to workforce the current position with regards to the pension scheme and the new pension offer.

"With regards to the other issues he raises, a key part of discussions with the company have centred around steel making and maintaining two furnace operation in Port Talbot and therefore maintaining production at the downstream businesses across south Wales and the UK."