Tata Steel confirms 2,800 job losses at Port Talbot site

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Tata Steel is slicing hundreds of jobs at its plant in Port Talbot, south Wales, after the agency confirmed it’s closing each blast furnaces at the site.

The Indian-owned metal large stated it was “not feasible or affordable” to undertake a plan put ahead by the GMB and Community unions to maintain the furnaces open whereas transitioning to a greener manufacturing technique.

It will imply 2,800 staff will lose jobs at the site, together with 2,500 within the subsequent 18 months. The cuts come regardless of Tata being promised as much as £500m by the UK authorities in a bid to maintain the plant open and produce metal in a greener method.

The GMB stated the job losses are a “crushing blow to Port Talbot and UK manufacturing in general”.

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

But she stated the plan has “fallen on deaf ears” and steelworkers and their households will now endure.

The so-called multi-union plan was put ahead by the GMB and Community unions below which Tata Steel might have transitioned Port Talbot towards greener steelmaking over an extended timeline.

Under the plan, there would have been no obligatory redundancies and Britain’s home metal provide would have been protected – avoiding reliance on imports from international locations equivalent to India whereas the electrical arc furnace is constructed.

In a joint assertion, GMB, Unite and Community stated they have been “extremely disappointed” that Tata had rejected the choice plans they offered.