Tata Steel confirms 2800 job losses at Port Talbot site

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Tata Steel is cutting thousands of jobs at its plant in Port Talbot, south Wales, after the firm confirmed it is closing both blast furnaces at the site.

The Indian-owned steel giant said it was “not feasible or affordable” to adopt a plan put forward by the GMB and Community unions to keep the furnaces open while transitioning to a greener production method.

It will mean 2,800 workers will lose jobs at the site, including 2,500 in the next 18 months. The cuts come despite Tata being promised up to £500m by the UK government in a bid to keep the plant open and produce steel in a greener way.

The Port Talbot plant is the largest steelworks in the UK and currently employs 4,000 of the company’s 8,000-strong UK workforce. The move means almost 75 per cent of workers lose their jobs.

The GMB said the job losses are a “crushing blow to Port Talbot and UK manufacturing in general”. And senior Labour MP Stephen Kinnock said the closure of the blast furnaces leaves Britain as the only G20 country that can’t make virgin primary steel.

And it will leave Britain reliant on countries such as India, Russia and China for steel imports until the replacement alectric arc furnace is built, which Tata hopes will be in 2027.

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, national officer for steel, said: “It doesn’t have to be that way - unions provided a realistic, costed alternative that would rule out all compulsory redundancies.”

But she said the plan has “fallen on deaf ears” and steelworkers and their families will now suffer.

The so-called multi-union plan was put forward by the GMB and Community unions under which Tata Steel could have transitioned Port Talbot toward greener steelmaking over a longer timeline.

Under the plan, there would have been no compulsory redundancies and Britain’s domestic steel supply would have been protected - avoiding reliance on countries such as India, Russia and China.

In a joint statement, GMB and Community said they were “extremely disappointed” that Tata had rejected the alternative plans they presented. The unions met Tata representatives on Thursday in a last ditch attempt to push the multi-union plan, which they said would secure the future of Port Talbot steelmaking, protect production capacity and avoid compulsory redundancies.

And the two unions lashed out at Unite, which also represents workers at the plant, for “undermining” the plan and “unilaterally campaigning for discredited fantasy solutions”.

And they took aim at Tata and the UK government, saying it is a “disgrace” that they appear “intent on pursuing the cheapest instead of the best plan for our industry, our steelworkers and our country”.

“It’s unbelievable any Government would give a company £500m to throw 3,000 workers on the scrapheap,” the unions said.

Labour’s shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has previously attacked the government over the funding package, saying: “Only the Tories could spend £500m of taxpayers’ money to make thousands of British workers redundant.”

Rishi Sunak said the government is “absolutely committed” to British steelmaking, adding: “I know first of all that it will be a worrying time for everyone affected.”

He said the alternative was the entire plant being closed, leading to 8,000 job losses overall. “But the government worked with the company,” he said.

Mr Kinnock, Labour MP for Aberavon, home of the Port Talbot steelworks, said the losses will be “utterly devastating”.

He said: “There isn't a single household in my Aberavon constituency that isn't connected to the steelworks in some way.”

Mr Kinnock, who serves as Labour’s shadow immigration minister, said Tata Steel’s decision will leave the UK as the “only G20 country that can’t make virgin primary steel”.

He described the situation as “deeply frustrating and unnecessary”.

And he said: ““Global demand for steel is actually growing, but by pursuing a narrow electric arc furnace-only model, Tata Steel will be unable to seize the commercial opportunities of the future, while at the same time leaving Britain more dependent on imported steel from countries whose governments won’t always have Britain’s best interests at heart.”

The first 2,500 jobs are expected to be cut in the next 18 months, with a further 300 by 2027.

Tata chief executive T V Narendran said the decision was “difficult” but “we believe it is the right one”.

“We recognise this proposed restructuring would have a major impact on the individuals and communities concerned, whom we will support with dignity and respect,” he added.