Talks over redundancies and the restructuring of Tata’s steel plant at Port Talbot have broken down.
Both blast furnaces in Port Talbot are expected to close this year with 2,800 jobs lost across the UK as a result. An electric arc furnace costing £1.25bn – towards which the government has contributed £500m – will be built by the firm at the site, but this will provide fewer jobs.
The company said it had a £130m redundancy programme in place.
But the Community, Unite and GMB unions have said the company had disregarded the impact of the changes on workers, their families and communities in favour of maximising profits.
Following the break down of talks between steel unions and Tata today (3 May), Community general secretary Roy Rickhuss said the company’s proposals were “completely unacceptable”.
He added: “Tata talks the talk and wants to be seen as a caring responsible employer, but the reality is they are determined to cut jobs and punish their most vulnerable employees who want job security.
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“We have told the company, in the strongest terms, that their actions and failure to engage in meaningful negotiations is not good enough, and we will now consult our members on our next steps.”
Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, GMB’s national officer for steel, said: “The strength of feeling is palpable, members feel they are being disregarded and being abandoned, and they’re angry.”
The Community union said that Tata Steel CEO Rajesh Nair had failed to improve the voluntary redundancy package beyond what the firm had already communicated which included a training scheme for those who did not volunteer that placed them on minimum wage after four months.
The unions believe that the voluntary package would inevitably lead to compulsory redundancies. It added that Tata had refused to move the 25-year cap or increase the multiplier, but had moved in a little in calculating years in service by no longer rounding down the number of years.
Community said the three unions were aligned about industrial action and threatened strike action to gain an enhance voluntary scheme.
Tata and the unions have been in consultations for seven months after the company said it wanted to end blast furnace iron production in south Wales this year.
It employs 4,000 workers at Port Talbot and will begin a voluntary redundancy process in May.
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Last month Unite voted to take industrial action at the site, resulting in Nair saying the company would take the “most favourable financial package” it had offered off the table if there was a strike. Members of Community and the GMB are also expected to vote in favour of strike action.
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