UNIONS have confirmed they will ballot North-East steelworkers on strike action over pensions.

Hundreds of staff across Tata Steel will vote after the company unveiled proposals to close the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS).

Workers have been urged to strike, and if they walk out, will join the first national dispute in more than 30 years.

Tata, which supports about 750 Teesside jobs and operates the Teesside Beam Mill, near Redcar, and a special profiles plant, in Skinningrove, east Cleveland, said it was aware of the ballot, but added bosses remain open for talks.

Steel unions Community, GMB, and Ucatt have all given official legal notice to the firm about their intention to ballot members, with Unite union expected to give notice in the coming days.

Papers will be posted from Wednesday, May 6.

Unions previously said the ballot will close on Friday, May 29, adding the BSPS had 143,000 members as of late last year, with assets of about £13.6bn.

Roy Rickhuss, National Trade Union Steel Co-ordinating Committee chairman, and Community general secretary, said: “There is no sign of Tata showing any willingness to re-enter meaningful discussions about the BSPS.

“To defend members’ hard-earned pensions we have no choice but to ballot for action.

“This is not a situation we wanted to find ourselves in, and the unions were prepared to discuss changes that resolved the challenges faced by the scheme, but Tata rejected that constructive offer.

“We are urging members to vote for strike action.”

A Tata spokesman said it had made an offer to the unions and was still open for talks.

He added: “The company tabled proposals to the national officers of the trade unions whereby the defined benefit (final salary) scheme would remain open to future accruals subject to a number of modifications.

“As agreement with the trade unions on these proposals could not be reached, the company has initiated a 60-day statutory consultation period with scheme members on a proposal to close the scheme to future accruals for existing members.

“The consultation process provides opportunities for employees to comment on the proposals and to suggest alternatives that they wish the company to consider, other than the proposal of closure to future accrual.

“The company also remains committed to providing employees with competitive future pension provision.

“We have made clear to the unions our door remains open.”

He added the result of any vote will have no impact on Tata’s ongoing talks with US billionaire Gary Klesch, who is looking to buy its loss-making Long Products division, which includes the Teesside Beam Mill.