STEEL workers vowed to continue to fight for the industry as Tata Steel prepares to close down its last blast furnace at its Port Talbot plant today.
Community Union 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.”
Mr Rickhuss also said it was “a moment of huge frustration” after Tata Steel had rejected the joint union alternative plan for Port Talbot.
“Last year Community and GMB unions published a credible alternative plan for Port Talbot which would have ensured a fair transition to green steel-making and prevented compulsory redundancies,” Mr Rickhuss said.
Blast furnace IV is due to shut down at about 5pm after the company gradually reduced the heat in the furnace over the weekend.
"The closure marks the end of an era, but this is not the end for Port Talbot. We will never stop fighting for our steel industry and our communities in South Wales,” Mr Rickhuss said.
Labour’s deal with Tata will provide funding to help the Indian-owned firm build a greener electric arc furnace from 2027 — but it will only recycle scrap steel and not be able to produce iron ore for primary steel-making.
Plaid Cymru’s economic spokesman Luke Fletcher said the country needed to plan a future for steel.
"The decline of our steel industry is a direct consequence of successive governments failing to develop an industrial strategy,” he said. “They neglected to acknowledge that without a strong steel sector, the car industry, shipbuilding, and heavy manufacturing are all doomed to fail.”
It is estimated that a further 2,000 jobs could be lost from firms in Tata Steel’s supply chain and businesses in Port Talbot reliant on the steel workforce.
Welsh and UK governments have announced a supply chain transition fund for businesses to seek funding to overcome short-term challenges.
The transition fund is part of an overall £80 million support fund provided by the UK government to be delivered through a partnership between Neath Port Talbot Council and a Welsh government agency, Business Wales.
