This week Tata Steel and unions averted what would have been the biggest industrial dispute in the UK steel sector in three decades after agreeing on a plan to modify but keep open Tata Steel’s long running £14-billion defined benefit pension scheme. The deal involved compromises on both sides. Roy Rickhuss, the general secretary of Community, the lead union in the negotiations with Tata Steel, spoke to BusinessLine about the end of the dispute with Tata Steel and his ongoing concerns about industrial relations.

How happy are you with the deal that has been reached?

The key issue for the unions was keeping the pension scheme open. We know that defined benefit pension schemes have been in serious decline and a lot of companies have closed their schemes, and significantly reduced benefits. When Tata announced the closure of the scheme we had always made clear that it would be a line in the sand that we would not cross.

The significant point is that the scheme now remains open for future accrual and if the economy improves to a point that the scheme is better positioned we have the ability to allow new entrants in again.

The unions have had to make concessions, it is a compromise, but the main aim of the unions to keep the scheme open was met. It is the view of all four unions that the company was hell bent on closing the scheme.

What was the turning point in your view?

The turning point was the strong mandate from the membership across four unions for industrial action. The company was probably very shaken by that — I don’t believe they expected it. They didn’t expect the workforce to react in such a strong way.

You’ve spoken frankly about your concerns that there is a problem with industrial relations at Tata Steel that goes beyond this dispute. How optimistic are you that this is behind you now?

I remain very cynical. What we’ve said to the company is that during this dispute a lot of bad feeling came out about the way the company conducted itself. We believe there are serious issues with the way the company is managed and industrial relations are handled.

We are demanding a review and for an independent third party to come in and have a look at the industrial relations within the company. I am confident they will agree to our demand. The obvious people would be someone like the [dispute resolution service] ACAS.

What are you most concerned about?

Everything in a sense — the decision making process, the lack of consultation, particularly at a local level.

It’s the way the senior union officials within the business feel they are not given the proper respect and not consulted, and changes, including significant ones, are made without their knowledge. It could be on anything from manning levels, to shift changes or work times. Local officials at many plants feel disheartened by the lack of consultation.

The company has announced further lay-offs at its speciality and bar business. How do you think this will be handled?

The problem is that this business has gone through several previous restructurings and there is a strong view coming from local officials at that business that the company has not delivered on issues that they said would be improved and now we have yet another restructuring. There is no confidence that this is going to be any different to previous restructuring.

There are huge challenges facing the industry — how confident are you that unions and Tata Steel can work on this together?

It’s not just about Tata but about the steel industry in the UK. We launched a “Stand up for steel” campaign a few months ago calling on the government to take the problems with the steel industry seriously — if you want steel in the UK you have to stand up and do something about it. If you don’t, let us know and we’ll go elsewhere.

That is basically the stark situation that politicians across the parties have to deal with. We are working closely with UK Steel [the body representing UK steel makers, including Tata Steel] to put together a series of meetings with senior politicians.

There has got to be a joint approach. We have already done some good work with UK Steel on anti-dumping measures.

Also read: Will consider all initiatives to improve partnership with unions: Tata Steel

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