Jobs At Risk In Tata Steel Port Talbot Steelworks

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The reported plan to shut two blast furnaces and replace them with electric arc furnaces (EAFs) is feared to lead to thousands of job losses at Tata Steel Port Talbot steelworks. Meantime, the unions have already decided to fight against the proposed plans to put an end to primary steelmaking in South Wales.

The Tata Steel plant accounts for nearly 50% of the total jobs at Port Talbot. The move by the company is feared to lead to massive job losses. The decision faces strong opposition from labor unions, which said that the company has not yet consulted its workforce on the proposal. The unions noted that it is an absolute disgrace for the company to develop such a plan without taking its workforce into confidence.

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According to Community, the steelworkers’ union, it has decided to seek urgent clarification from the company. The decision to end blast furnace production is deeply worrying and will not be accepted. The proposed plan would devastate the town and the community. The union is determined to fight to protect its members’ livelihoods and the future of steel industry in the country, it added.

The conversion to EAF would make the company eligible to apply for government funding through its Project Birch fund, set up by the UK government to help companies recover from Covid-19 impacts.