'Tata Steel and the Tories are going to tear the soul out of our communities'

20 January 2024 , 18:20

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Port Talbot, where Tata steel are set to shut down the last two blast furnaces after rejecting a plan from unions to save thousands of jobs (Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)

I’ve worked in and around the steel industry all my life. Steel is a part of me, in the same way it is a part of every single steel worker in Port Talbot and surrounding sites, a part of the very community, the very identity of Port Talbot itself.

That’s why the announcement by Tata this week of 2,800 unnecessary job losses is going to be so devastating. The UK Government and Tata are going to tear the heart and soul out of our communities.

This 3mt EAF only plan is simply the wrong one. It’ll remove our domestic steel making capacity, making us the only G20 country not able to produce steel domestically. A frankly baffling strategic mistake by the UK Government.

It won’t achieve the purported aims of the UK Government and Tata to make our industry greener. Rather it simply offshores our carbon footprint, and also jobs, to other countries around the world as we’ll need to import materials from more carbon intensive economies.

There is not a single element of this deal that is good for steel, good for the UK, or good for our planet. It’s a bad deal pure and simple, and what compounds this even more is that there is another plan available.

Fears for 800 British Steel jobs amid siren warnings for industry's future

Community Union and GMB have put forward a multi-union plan that protects our domestic steel making ability, protects jobs, and protects our planet. By building a smaller EAF, keeping one blast furnace running while it is constructed, and developing a DRI facility we can retain jobs, retain our strategic steel making capability, all while making our industry greener. Tata themselves admitted in their meeting with us that this was a credible alternative to their plan.

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So why hasn’t it been followed? In one word, cheap. The watchword of this Government, of this company has been cheap. All they care about is what is the cheapest option, not what is the right option. Not what is the option that delivers on the needs of our members, our nation, and our planet. The people of Port Talbot have been sold out for a pound shop deal.

While the UK Government has deserted its responsibility, Community will continue to fight for our members and stand-up for the strategic interests of our nation.

Roy Rickhuss