More than 2,000 workers have applied for voluntary redundancy at Tata Steel’s south Wales sites.
Most are based in Port Talbot, where the company plans to close its second blast furnace by the end of September.
Tata Steel said it had begun assessing whether those who were interested in taking redundancy were in roles that could be closed.
Unions have pledged to ballot their members on whether to accept the redundancy deal, with the first of 2,800 workers expected to leave the company within weeks.
Earlier in August, Welsh secretary Jo Stevens unveiled funding of £13.5m to support businesses and workers impacted by job losses at Tata Steel and entered negotiations with the business and with unions in a bid to help the region adapt to the loss of jobs. Union Unite welcomed Labour’s intervention after calling off a strike at the facility in early July.
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The funding was agreed by the previous government as part of a £500m deal that will see blast furnaces closed in south Wales with the loss of nearly 3,000 jobs and the construction of a greener electric arc furnace at Port Talbot.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds and unions are negotiating with Tata Steel over redundancy terms, timings and are still looking to save as many jobs as possible.
Tata Steel will give employees 2.8 weeks’ salary for every year of service, up to a maximum of 25 years.
They will receive a guaranteed minimum payment of £15,000 and an attendance-related payment of £5,000.
A Tata spokesperson said: “We are currently working through how people’s aspirations may align with the future organisational structure requirements.
“While we have made great efforts to put together an employee support package that will help many of those people affected to transition out of the business, it is also vital that we retain our core knowledge, skill base and experience through this most challenging of times.”
The three unions representing Tata Steel workers – Community, Unite and the GMB – had previously given members a vote on whether to accept the redundancy deal. The company said it expected the vote to happen “shortly”.
Union sources expect the deal would be widely supported by staff, following months of discussion with the company.
Of the 2,500 whose jobs are under threat this year (a further 300 jobs are likely to go at the nearby Llanwern site next year), around 300 to 400 are believed to be at risk of compulsory redundancy.
Labour also committed a further £2.5bn towards the future of steelmaking in the UK, and unions have called on the government to commit some of that funding to other investments in south Wales.
Adding a plate mill or similar technology to the Port Talbot operation, which could produce steel plate for floating offshore wind turbines, is under discussion.
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