FEARS were raised today that steel giant Tata is to press ahead with plans to close blast furnaces at its plant in Port Talbot, south Wales, threatening more than 3,000 jobs.

Unions met company representatives after presenting alternative proposals aimed at saving jobs at Tata’s biggest plant in Britain.

Sources said that bosses had rejected the unions’ ideas and were pressing ahead with the introduction of a greener form of steelmaking to cut emissions and stem financial losses.

Community and GMB had submitted a joint plan based on expert advice on how to save more jobs at the steel plant. Unite had initially endorsed that plan, but the union subsequently withdrew from it, favouring its own broader blueprint for steel in Britain.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “As yet, Tata is still playing games with people’s livelihoods.

“Whatever and however they announce their plans for Port Talbot, Unite will fight tooth and nail to defend steel workers and our steel industry.

“We have already clearly demonstrated how and why Tata should be expanding UK steel production in line with growing demand.”

GMB national officer Charlotte Brumpton-Childs said: “Large-scale job losses would be a crushing blow to Port Talbot and UK manufacturing in general.

“It doesn’t have to be this way — unions provided a realistic, costed alternative that would rule out all compulsory redundancies.”

A statement by the National Trade Union Steel Co-ordinating Committee said: “The steel unions met with a senior Tata Steel delegation led by Koushik Chatterjee and the company responded to the multi-union plan laying out an alternative decarbonisation strategy for Tata Steel UK.

“We will be communicating the outcomes of the meeting to our members in the first instance, as is right and proper.”

Plaid Cymru’s Luke Fletcher and Sioned Williams, who represent South Wales West in the Senedd, said in a joint statement: “Tata’s decision to push ahead with potentially 3,000 job losses in Wales is devastating.”

Before the meeting with the unions, a Tata Steel spokesman said: “We have recently announced a joint agreement between Tata Steel and UK government for a proposal to invest in state-of-the-art electric arc furnace steel-making in Port Talbot.

“While those discussions are ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”