UNIONS vowed to “never stop fighting” for Port Talbot jobs, as Tata Steel began shutting its final blast furnace today.

In a devastating blow to communities in south Wales, nearly 2,000 jobs will be lost at the plant in the coming months, and thousands more in the wider community that relies on the steelworks.

Tata Steel UK chief executive Rajesh Nair said the company wants a “brighter, greener future” in low-carbon scrap-based steel-making, with the move expected to secure 5,000 jobs across Britain.

The site will enter a transition period as the Indian conglomerate builds a £1.25bn electric arc furnace for the site by 2027, part-funded by a £500 million government grant.

The funds are part of Labour’s two-stage investment programme at Tata’s south Wales operations.

Union talks with Tata about the second stage of investment, which will come from a £2.5 billion steel fund secured from the government, will be conducted over the next 12 months.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “These imminent job losses at Tata Steel are another act of industrial vandalism — transitions happening too late with too little money and workers paying the price.

“Years of wilful neglect and underinvestment by the previous government has led us to this place.

“Labour needs to ensure that Tata’s 5,000 jobs guarantee is kept to.

“Anything other than that would be to hand over taxpayers’ money with no jobs return. Unite would never accept that position.”

Unite regional secretary for Wales Peter Hughes added: “The priority must now be in rebuilding a strong steel industry in south Wales, protecting supply chains and bolstering the regional economy.

“Unite will be unrelenting in fighting to achieve that.”

GMB national organiser Charlotte Brumpton-Childs said the government’s plan for Port Talbot is better than the pre-election plan.

She said it had “more opportunities for people in the future in terms of investment commitments that the company have made, and a comprehensive trading package for those that are at risk of compulsory redundancy to be able to maintain employment with the business, and retrain and reskill.”

Community general secretary Roy Rickhuss said: “Today marks an incredibly sad and poignant day for the British steel industry and for the communities in and around Port Talbot, which are so intricately connected to blast furnace steel-making.

“We will never stop fighting for our steel industry and our communities in south Wales.”

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens has said the British Labour government is determined to back Welsh steelworkers.