Unite, one of the three major unions which represent Tata Steel workers in the UK, has called for an ‘all-out indefinite strike’ from July 8 at Port Talbot and Llanwern in Wales, escalating confrontation in the wake of the company’s decision to close down blast furnaces that will render 2800 jobless.
Around 1,500 workers may take part in the strike which is scheduled four days after the UK goes in for general elections on July 4. The Labour Party, which had asked Tata Steel to stall the closure of the blast furnaces till the election outcome and proposed more money for the UK steel industry, is tipped to win the polls.
While three trade unions — Community, GMB and Unite — had balloted for industrial action. But as of now, it is only Unite that intends to go ahead with the strike. Unite says it would be the first strike to take place in 40 years by steel workers in the UK and ‘severely impact’ Tata Steel’s UK operations.
Responding to the strike call, Tata Steel said it was ‘extremely disappointed’ by Unite’s unilateral decision and vowed that the company’s plans remain unchanged. However, the Tatas may be forced to speed up the closure plan if the strike takes place, it added.
“Our existing steelmaking assets are near the end of their life, are operationally unstable and causing unsustainable losses of £1 million a day. This is why preparations to close the blast furnaces and associated plants in Port Talbot are unchanged. However, if the safety and stability of our operations are put at risk by this action, we will be forced to accelerate the closure plan,” a company spokesperson said late in the evening.
Claiming that Tata Steel has offered the most generous severance package in its history, the company said it hoped Unite will put the improved offer to vote as accepted by all unions, including Unite, previously.
The escalation in industrial action comes after the workers, who are members of Unite, began working to rule and an overtime ban on Tuesday. In a statement, Sharon Graham, general-secretary of Unite on Friday, said: “Tata’s workers are not just fighting for their jobs — they are fighting for the future of steel in Wales. Our members will not standby while this immensely wealthy conglomerate tries to throw Port Talbot and Llanwern on the scrapheap so it can boost its operations abroad.”
While Unite claims that 1,500 workers are set to join the strike, only 468 of 1,366 Unite members had previously voted for industrial action, including strike. Port Talbot and Llanwerm employ about 4,500 workers.
According to the plan unveiled in January, Tata Steel will close down one of the two blast furnaces (BF) at Port Talbot this month, having decommissioned the coke oven plant earlier this year. The other BF is slated to be shut down by September. The restructuring also involves closing down some of the cold rolling operations in Llanwern.
It plans to build a 3 million tonne capacity electric arc furnace at Port Talbot, entailing investment of £1.25 billion, including £500 million in government grant, reducing carbon footprint of the steel making operations and making the UK operation resilient. TSUK has made operational profit only twice since the Tatas acquired erstwhile Corus Group Plc in 2007. It poured in £6.8 billion to keep the operation afloat, drawing resource from profitable Indian operations.
On June 11, the Indian company had noted with concerns that the £1.25 billion green transition plan, which includes a £500 million grant offered by the incumbent Conservatives government led by Rishi Sunak, ‘may be put in peril’ due to policy differences expressed by the Labour and Conservatives parties during the ongoing election period.
