UNITE said it will not stop fighting until Tata halts its plans to shut Port Talbot’s blast furnaces, ahead of a rally by hundreds of south Wales steelworkers on Saturday.

General secretary Sharon Graham, who will give speeches alongside representatives from Community and GMB, said: “Tata’s plans will destroy jobs, reduce capacity, damage the community and put our national security at risk — and it doesn’t have to be like this.

“This is crunch time for UK steel and the future of Port Talbot, a town that lives and breathes steel and whose voices must be heard. Tata must change direction, Unite will not stop fighting until they do.”

Unite has put forward a £12 billion plan to revive British steelmaking over 12 years and said it is considering industrial action after Tata Steel UK confirmed it would be shutting down two of Port Talbot works’ blast furnaces last month.

This comes with a loss of 2,800 jobs despite the company having secured a £500 million government bung for its £1.25bn four-year plan to build electric arc furnaces (EAFs).

It said about 200 positions would be saved by maintaining operations at the site’s hot strip mill and some temporary jobs would be created while constructing the EAFs.

The public rally will start at the Civic Centre Square in Port Talbot with addresses by local politicians and union representatives.

A separate plan by Community and GMB has been backed by industry experts, the Labour Party and members of the Senedd, Community assistant general secretary Alasdair McDiarmid said.

Aberavon MP Stephen Kinnock said: “Now is not the time for Tata to rush ahead on an irreversible and deeply damaging course of action.”