A recent report by The Guardian has indicated that Tata Steel will confirm plans to shut down much of its production at the Port Talbot steelworks during a meeting with trade unions, putting ‘thousands of jobs at risk’.
Three sources said they believed that Tata was on the brink of confirming plans to close Port Talbot’s two blast furnaces, ending more than a century of steel production in south Wales.
Tata was expected to say in November that it would shutter Port Talbot’s blast furnaces, while it spends four years building EAFS–but the company postponed official confirmation of the closures, which unions say could cost 3,000 jobs directly, and’ hundreds more in the wider community,’ according to The Guardian.
At the meeting, held at noon today in London, the company is expected to say it cannot afford a proposal drawn up on behalf of the GMB and Community unions by the consultancy Syndex, which would protect 2,000 jobs and keep the blast furnaces open during the four-year transition period.
''That’s why the Tata-Tory ‘bad deal for steel’ is such an affront to all those who understand the steel industry – because it will limit the quality and quantity of steel we can make in Port Talbot, and in doing so cost thousands of jobs.”
Stephen Kinnock, Labour member of parliament
Labour member of parliament, Stephen Kinnock, whose Aberavon constituency includes the Port Talbot steelworks, said: “Steel is critical for our national security, good local jobs, and for the transition to a greener economy – and we need our steel to be made here in the UK, otherwise we become reliant on imports controlled by hostile regimes. That’s why the Tata-Tory ‘bad deal for steel’ is such an affront to all those who understand the steel industry – because it will limit the quality and quantity of steel we can make in Port Talbot, and in doing so cost thousands of jobs.”
Source: The Guardian