Thousands of steelworkers in Port Talbot could lose their jobs, as the government agrees to invest up to £500m in greener steel production.
Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds accused ministers of “spending half a billion pounds to make 3,000 people unemployed”.
Union leaders at the factory in Wales have accused the government of not consulting with workers over their future.
The Community Union and GMB have written to the prime minister asking for clarification about the future of the site, urging the government to give its “support as we fight to secure a green steel strategy that will deliver a just transition for the workforce”.
In their letter, Community general secretary Roy Rickhuss and GMB leader Gary Smith say: “We must stress that our trade unions do not support the UK transitioning to an electric arc furnace-only steelmaking model and concerningly, there has been no consultation on these reported proposals.
Green jobs
“It is not technologically possible to make all the grades of steel using electric arc furnaces that we currently make through blast furnaces.”
They add that such a strategy would be “absolutely devastating” for employees as it would only support a “tiny fraction” of the current workforce. It would also likely result in plant closures.
Wales’s economy minister Vaughan Gething has also written to business secretary Kemi Badenoch asking for “regular formal dialogue”.
“It is wholly unacceptable that the Welsh Government must rely on reports in the media to gain information about the future of such an important company in the economic landscape of Wales,” the letter says.
According to reports on Sky News and in the Financial Times, the government will make an announcement today on funding for decarbonisation.
Reynolds added: “We want green steel but there are ways to do that. And there are ways to do that which makes it an incredibly positive story for the UK. But we are not getting that at the minute.
“People will know that the technology that is being proposed, if the reports are true, fundamentally limits the products that can be made here in Port Talbot.
“There are huge repercussions for that, there are huge repercussions for the existing order book let alone the future.”
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