Tata plant could shut two months early due to strike

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***** plant could shut two months early due to strike

12 minutes ago

By Mark Palmer, BBC News

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The company had been planning to shut down one of the blast furnaces by the end of June and the second by September

Workers at ***** Steel have been told that the company is taking steps to potentially cease operations at the plant by 7 July because of a strike by the trade union Unite.

The company had originally been planning to shut down one of the blast furnaces by the end of June and the second one by September.

But Port Talbot workers have been told that because of the strike from 8 July, the company can no longer be assured of sufficient resources being available to ensure safe and stable operations.

The Unite union said *****’s statement to shut or pause the blast furnaces three months earlier than intended was the latest in a long line of threats and it would not deter them.

The Welsh government said it cannot and will not support the closure of both blast furnaces.

Last week the

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on 8 July over the company’s plans to cut thousands of jobs.

About 2,800 ***** Steel workers will lose their jobs when the company closes both blast furnaces in Port Talbot by the end of September.

At the time, the company said if the strike affected the safety or stability of its operations it would be “forced” to accelerate closure plans.

A spokesperson for ***** said: “Following the announcement by Unite union to unilaterally call strike action from 8 July, ***** Steel is unfortunately forced to commence legal action to challenge the validity of Unite’s ballot.

“In the coming days, if we cannot be certain that we are able to continue to safely and stably operate our assets through the ******* of strike action, we will not have any choice but to pause or stop heavy end operations [including both blast furnaces] on the Port Talbot site.

“That is not a decision we would take lightly, and we recognise that it would prove extremely costly and disruptive throughout the supply chain, but the safety of people on or around our sites will always take priority over everything else.”

***** said it is again calling on Unite to withdraw its industrial action and join Community and GMB unions in “giving consideration” to the companies proposal, which ***** said includes “generous employee support packages, training and skills development”.

It said it “understands” the impact the restructuring will have on many employees and contractors, but that it “******** committed to a just transition” and hopes for a “long and sustainable future” in the ***.

PA Media

Unite union workers are protesting against ***** Steel’s plans to cut 2,800 jobs

Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, said Unite is “fighting for the future of the steel industry”.

She said Unite has secured “serious investment” from Labour to safeguard jobs.

“***** putting out a statement to shut or pause its blast furnaces three months earlier than they intended to is the latest in a long line of threats that won’t deter us.

“The Unite campaign is not about selling jobs, it’s about securing the long-term future of steel making in this country for thousands of workers in Port Talbot and South Wales.”

Unite said it is calling on the “real decision makers” in Mumbai to realise that “the investment secured will be good for the company and workers.”

First minister Vaughan Gething described the news from ***** as “extraordinary” and urged the company to wait for the result of next week’s general election.

In a statement, Mr Gething said: “The news that ***** could switch off Blast Furnaces 4 and 5 at Port Talbot next week is extraordinary and will cause huge anxiety for the workforce, their families and the community.

“The Welsh government cannot and will not support the closure of both blast furnaces”.

He added that acting whilst the nation went to the polls did not help de-escalate matters.

Luke Fletcher, Plaid Cymru’s economy spokesperson, said steel should be brought under the control of the next *** government, which Plaid believes will be led by Sir Keir Starmer.

Mr Fletcher said: “The time has come now for an incoming Labour government to put words into action on steel.

“Save our steel is no good as just a slogan, if we are going to save our steel, nationalisation needs to happen on day one.”

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