Tata Steel, UK workers' union pension talks fall through

Talks between Tata Steel and the UK labour unions have come to a halt after the latter rejected the former's proposal, saying that "it was an attack on workers' pension," BTVI said, quoting unnamed sources. 

The UK steelworkers' unions and Tata Steel have been deadlocked over 15-billion pound pension scheme for its workers, a PTI report had said earlier, a stalemate that is touted as the main obstacle in its merger with German rival ThyssenKrupp, the report added. 

An agreement could secure the immediate future of the Port Talbot plant in south Wales and its 4,000 staff members, plus other plants across the country which were put up for sale in March this year, another PTI report said. 

However, UK trade unions don't seem to have bought into the scheme. "We reject any arrangement that changes the terms of pension," they said, according to sources.

According to a recent Sunday Times report, "the new talks between Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp depend on using a regulated apportionment agreement, which allows companies to pump cash into a pension scheme in return for permission to continue trading without those liabilities," the report said. The scheme then usually gets taken over by PPF.

"...won't Allow British Steel Pension  Scheme To Go Into PPF," the trade unions said.

A deal between the two parties would ensure that the Talbot plant is kept open for years.