WORKERS at the country's oldest chromium plant have voted in favour of industrial action over the company's plans to shed more than half the workforce at its Teesside plant.

Eighty-six per cent of employees at Elementis Chromium, in Eaglescliffe, near Yarm, who took part in the consultative ballot said they would be prepared to take action if requested.

The T&G and Amicus unions are taking the findings back to the multi-national on Monday, but fear the company is considering shutting the site altogether.

Joe Keith, T&G's senior regional industrial organiser, said: "What this demonstrates is our members' anger at the way the announcement of the job cuts has been made and the current plans being pursued by the company through Hanover's connection.

"Our members are not about to sit back and let things happen. We are still of the view that the proposed 120 redundancies could be the first step to the total closure of the plant, although the company has denied this."

Elementis announced the job losses at the end of last month, blaming soaring energy costs for continued losses at the plant. It is now undergoing a 90-day consultation period.

Union leaders believe finance company Hanover, which owns 15 per cent of Elementis, is at the heart of the job losses in its attempt to impress the City.

Mr Keith said there was a real fear that workers may lose their pensions if the plant was to shut and operations moved overseas.

"Why would the company continue to subsidise a pension scheme that is between £40m and £60m in deficit under those circumstances," he said.

Of the 124 papers that went out to the 230 workforce at Elementis during the consultative ballot, 107 came back in favour of industrial action, 15 were against and two were returned blank.

Mr Keith said he would seek permission to hold a strike ballot from the union's regional secretary. He said: "It is just a formality that has to be done. I don't imagine for one minute that permission will be denied."