Port Talbot steelworkers protest over Tata 'disastrous' threat to 2,800 jobs and 'UK security'

Hundreds of steelworkers and supporters took to the streets in protest against thousands of job losses in South Wales.

Tata is expected to push ahead with plans to shut down blast furnaces at the firm’s steelworks at Port Talbot, with the loss of around 2,800 jobs. The firm last month rejected proposals from unions that would have secured jobs while still transitioning to more environmentally friendly ways of producing steel.

Workers in the Community union are set to be balloted for industrial action in response to the threat of job losses at Port Talbot and other Tata sites. Welsh Government ministers Vaughn Gething and Jeremy Miles and Labour MPs Stephen Kinnock, Nick Thomas Symonds, Jessica Morden and Ruth Jones joined protesters at two rallies in Port Talbot and Newport yesterday (SAT).

Stephen Kinnock, Labour MP for Aberavon, said: “Port Talbot steelworks has been the beating heart of our community for generations. Tata’s proposals for the site threaten that proud tradition and the works’ enormous future potential.

“Their narrow, electric arc furnace-only plan would sacrifice highly-skilled local jobs and leave the UK dependent on dirty steel imports. The people of Port Talbot and South Wales are rightly asking the company to stop and think again before it is too late – it is time for Tata, and the UK Government, to listen.”

Economy minister Vaughan Gething speaking to the rally

Community General Secretary Roy Rickhuss said: “Today showed that Port Talbot, Newport and South Wales – steelworkers, politicians, local businesses and community groups – are united in opposing Tata’s bad deal for steel, which would be disastrous not just for communities here which have been built on steel, but for the UK as a whole. Make no mistake about it, what the company are proposing is bad for jobs, bad for our economy, bad for our environment and bad for national security. As the steelworkers’ union, we’ll do everything we can in our power to stand up against Tata and the UK Government’s plan, including the last resort of industrial action as we set out yesterday.”

The firm plans to invest £750 million in the electric arc furnace, alongside funding for a support package for the employees expected to be made redundant during the transition. The UK Government has committed to investing £500 million at the site.

A Tata Steel spokesman said: “Much of our existing iron and steelmaking operation in Port Talbot is at the end of its life, is unreliable and inefficient, and contributing to losses of £1.7 million a day in the last quarter alone. We believe we have a very exciting future ahead, providing the high quality, low-CO2 steels that our customers in the UK and overseas are so desperate for.

“Furthermore, producing steel from scrap that already exists in significant quantities in the UK rather than importing iron ore and coal from across the world, will be the foundation for more resilient UK manufacturing supply chains.”

A UK Government spokesman said: “We recognise that this is a concerning time for Tata’s employees at Port Talbot and we will continue to support staff affected by the transition. The UK Government has put in place one of the biggest support packages in history, with a £500 million grant as part of the £1.25 billion commitment by Tata to secure the future of the Welsh steel industry.

“Additionally, £100 million has been put towards the creation of a Transition Board – £80 million from the UK Government and £20 million from Tata Steel. This record level of support shows just how much the UK Government values the Welsh steel industry and the people and communities whose livelihoods depend on it.”