A DISPUTE has broken out between management and unions at a Corus division over changes to staff terms and conditions and pension rights, it was revealed yesterday.

Managers at Corus Long Products are said to be looking to reduce some employee benefits and stop new staff from joining the pension scheme, which has met with opposition from unions.

Delegates from the Community Union walked out of a business joint council meeting with managers from Long Products earlier this week, accusing the division – which has hundreds of redundancies planned at four North- East sites – of using the recession as an opportunity to field the proposals, and of acting in a “damaging” way.

Talks between management and unions are expected to take place next week.

Roy Rickhuss, national officer for the Community Union, said it was the first time delegates had walked out of a meeting since the committee’s inception in 1992.

“Delegates informed management that their behaviour was damaging the industrial relations within the company and that the unions and management are now on a collision course – at which point the delegates walked out,” he said.

Last night, Jimmy Skivington, regional organiser for the GMB union, said: “We want the company to remove the threat of closing the pension scheme to new starters. That is what is on the table, and we will look to resolve that before we talk about anything else.

“Given the economic climate, the issues have become a lot more important for staff, and we will fight our corner to preserve these terms and conditions and access to the pension scheme for new starters.

“We understand the management have gone away from the meeting to discuss the plans at a very senior level, and we will meet again when they are in a position to respond.”

In June, it was announced that 428 redundancies were to be made at Long Products sites in Lackenby, Skinningrove, Hartlepool and Darlington.

Last month, The Northern Echo revealed how, through an upturn in demand for steel from Asia and rising steel prices, the 150 proposed job losses at Lackenby Beam Mill had now been reduced to 68.