Workers at Tata Steel's Port Talbot plant in south Wales have voted to strike in response to the company's plan to stop iron-making and cut thousands of jobs.
Over 3,000 members of Community Union have been balloted, with more than 85pc in favour of industrial action — this is despite the company threatening to withdraw its proposed support package in the event of strikes.
"It should be noted this resounding mandate has been delivered in spite of the company's bullying and unacceptable threats to slash redundancy payments," Alun Davies, Community's national officer for steel, said.
He urged Tata to "get back around the table" to prevent a major industrial dispute.
Workers at Unite the union have already voted in favour of strike action, which is set for 30 May.
Unions — and the Syndex consultancy that has represented them in talks with Tata — have called the company's agreement with the government a "bad deal". They have requested more financial support to help Tata with decarbonisation, and for a blast furnace to be maintained. The government is giving Tata £166/t towards its decarbonisation — less than many European competitors receive from their governments.
The low level of state support played into Tata's decision to move to one large electric-arc furnace, which has been roundly criticised by unions.
