Workers at Tata Steel suspend strike

Around 1,500 workers, who had already begun a ban on overtime on June 17, were also scheduled to begin an indefinite strike on July 8.

By: Pramod Thomas

A strike planned for next week at Tata Steel UK’s Port Talbot steelworks in South Wales has been cancelled, unions said on Monday (1), citing the resumption of talks with company management.

As a result, steel plant owner Tata Steel has cancelled plans to begin shutting down the plant’s two blast furnaces this week. However, the cuts, which are expected to cost 2,800 jobs, are to be implemented later this year, reported The guard.

Tata Steel said it had received written confirmation that there would be no industrial action.

The Unite union had previously announced that Tata workers would go on an indefinite strike from July 8 in protest against the job cuts plans.

Britain’s main opposition Labour party, which is widely expected to beat the ruling Tories in the July 4 general election, had called on Tata to avert the strike.

“Unite … has confirmed that the current industrial action at Tata in South Wales has been suspended,” the union said in a statement.

“The decision follows Tata’s confirmation, arising from discussions at the highest level over the weekend, that the company is now ready to enter into negotiations about future investment in its operations and not just redundancies in South Wales, including Port Talbot.”

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham welcomed a “breakthrough” on the issue.

“This is a significant development in the fight to safeguard jobs and the long-term future of steel production in South Wales. The Labour investment secured by Unite will be vital to the future of the site.

“This breakthrough would not have been possible without the courage of our members in Port Talbot who were prepared to stand up and fight for their jobs.

“The workers were simply not prepared to stand by and watch as steel production was shut down and their communities were devastated.”

A Tata Steel spokesman said: “Now that we are confident we can provide the resources required to operate safely, we will cease preparations for the early shutdown of blast furnace 4 and the wider heavy furnace at Port Talbot planned for this week. We welcome the fact that we have not had to go further down this path.”

“The resumption of talks with the UK Steel Committee (representing the Community, Unite and GMB unions) will build on the position reached at the last meeting on 22 May. The focus will be on the future investment and ambitions for the business, rather than on renegotiating our existing plan for heavy-duty plant closures or improved terms for employment support.

“The shutdown process for blast furnace 5 has now started as planned and we expect to be able to produce the last iron by the end of this week.”

The furnaces, which were originally scheduled to close in July, will convert coal into coke, an important raw material for the steelmaking process.

Tata announced in January that it would close its coking plants and two high-emission blast furnaces in Port Talbot, resulting in the loss of up to 2,800 jobs.

The reform comes against the backdrop of a shift in the European steel industry, which is trying to finance less carbon-intensive production.

Tata plans to invest £1.25 billion, including £500 million from British government funds, in arc furnace technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the long term.

The new electric furnace is not scheduled to start operating until 2027 and the unions want steel production to continue until then.

(with contributions from AFP)