Steelworkers at Tata Port Talbot hold crisis talks with 3,000 jobs on the line
Steelworkers meet a top union leader today as they battle to save their jobs.
About 3,000 posts will go at Tata as its Port Talbot plant switches from coal-fired blast furnaces to less polluting electric arc systems. The Government will pump £500million of taxpayers’ cash into the transition, with Tata stumping another £725m.
Community union’s general secretary Roy Rickhuss will hold crisis talks with staff at lunchtime. He said: “It is important to listen to the people who really matter, and that’s the workers whose jobs are under threat by this bad deal for steel. An electric arc furnace-only model is an attempt to do decarbonisation on the cheap and it shows.
“Only this Government could spend £500m to make our steel industry less competitive, our economy weaker, and potentially remove 3,000 jobs from areas that need them the most. The steelworkers of Port Talbot know this is a bad deal and better alternatives are out there. Community union is led by its members, and we will be working with them every step of the way to oppose the UK Government and Tata Steel’s bad deal.”
Visiting Port Talbot to announce the agreement earlier this month, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch claimed the deal was “good for the taxpayer, good for the workforce”. Government sources said the choice was between losing 3,000 jobs or 8,000 posts unless Tata moved to electric arc technology. The Mirror has been campaigning to Save Our Steel since 2015.
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
* Follow Mirror Politics on Snapchat, Tiktok, Twitter and Facebook
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
