Tata Steel Eyes Major Job Cuts in UK

19 Jan 2024 , 11:12 AM

According to a report on Thursday, Tata Steel may eliminate roughly 3,000 jobs at a Welsh mill as the business struggles to pay for more environmentally friendly metal production.

The source with knowledge of the plan told AFP that the business will confirm on Friday that it will close two blast furnaces at the Port Talbot steelworks, which will result in the loss of roughly one-third of the workforce.

It comes after discussions with unions on Thursday, when they referred to the move as ‘a crushing blow’.

‘Trades union colleagues and their advisors have been engaging regularly and constructively with Tata Steel about best ways to create sustainable green steel future for Tata Steel in the UK,’ the company said in a statement.

‘When we have any formal announcement to make about our proposals for the future, we will always share these with our employees first,’ it stated.

The UK government said that 3,000 jobs were still in jeopardy but ended the year by pledging £500 million ($634 million) to support the nation’s largest steelworks’ manufacture of ‘greener’ steel.

Five thousand out of the eight thousand jobs were saved by the money for an electric furnace.

Senior GMB union leader Charlotte Brumpton-Childs stated on Thursday that ‘large-scale job losses would be a crushing blow to Port Talbot and UK manufacturing in general.’

This isn’t how things have to be. A practical, cost-effective solution that would eliminate all forced layoffs was offered by unions.

She continued in a statement, ‘Steelworkers and their families will suffer as a result of this plan appearing to have been ignored.’

In an effort to preserve thousands of jobs, the Italian government has begun the process of putting the financially troubled former Ilva steelworks under state supervision, according to unidentified sources who spoke to AFP on Thursday.

According to news report, a letter to this effect was issued on Wednesday to the CEO of Acciaierie d’Italia, the site’s operator and majority owner of ArcelorMittal, the second-largest steelmaker in the world.

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