STEEL bosses have rejected Labour pleas to keep Tata Steel’s blast furnaces open and will press on with the shutdown, cutting thousands of jobs in south Wales.
Tata Steel’s move came a week before steelworkers start an overtime ban on June 18 as part of industrial action to stop the job losses and closure of the blast furnace.
The snub came in a stock market update today despite First Minister Vaughan Gething and Labour shadow ministers going to Port Talbot on Monday to urge the company to delay the decision until after the general election.
The company urged political parties “to adhere to and safeguard the agreed terms” of its plan to restructure its British operations.
Tata Steel also called for safeguards for a £500 million grant the Conservative government has agreed to pay towards the electric arc furnace it plans to introduce.
Mr Gething and shadow Welsh secretary Jo Stevens urged Tata to wait for a Labour government next month so that fresh talks can take place.
Ms Stevens said: “What we have said to Tata all along is please don’t make any irreversible decisions before the general election. We want them to look at the union plan again.
“They know that we have our green steel fund ready to go. That will support Welsh and steel workers across the United Kingdom to ensure a smooth transition to decarbonised steel.”
Community union assistant general secretary Alasdair McDiarmid said: “It would be wrong for Tata to make irreversible decisions before such a consequential election.
“Again, we urge the company to engage with Labour and the unions to consider alternatives to protect jobs.”
Almost 2,800 jobs are expected to be lost in the steel plant if the company closes the blast furnaces in September. The Unite union has vowed to escalate industrial action to save the plant and its Unite for a Workers Economy campaign has called a public rally for next Monday June 17 in the town to demonstrate the strength of local feeling.
Economy and energy spokesman Luke Fletcher said that Plaid Cymru’s Welsh Green New Deal would “safeguard communities in south Wales from thousands of job losses in the steel industry.”
Mr Fletcher has campaigned for the Westminster government to nationalise the steelworks.
The party has been pressing the Welsh government to explore options to use powers to compulsorily purchase the plant if nationalisation is not an option for Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
