LONDON: Tata Steel UK’s biggest trade union has voted to go on strike, setting the scene for the biggest labor action in the British steel sector in three decades.

Members of the trade union Community voted 88 percent in favor of going on strike while the smaller GMB union said its members also approved strike action, statements said.

The union members are locked in a dispute with the company about its proposal to change their pension scheme.

“Steelworkers are determined to stand up to Tata,” said Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of Community.

“We stand on the brink of the first national strike in the steel industry for over 30 years,” said Rickhuss, also chair of the National Trade Union Steel Co-ordinating Committee.

The union, which did not give a date for a strike, said it was calling for Tata to return to negotiations.

Unions have been balloting some 17,000 members for industrial action. Results from the UCATT union was expected while a ballot by Unite is due to close next Friday.