Unions say they'll fight any plans for mass job losses at Scunthorpe Steelworks
British Steel wants to move to "greener" electric furnaces saying they're more competitive
Unions at Scunthorpe steelworks say they will strongly oppose any job losses as a result of plans to close the blast furnaces.
Yesterday British Steel confirmed proposals to replace them with electric arc furnaces which they say will be more competitive.
It's thought that might mean up to 2,000 redundancies.
Martin Foster is the Unite union rep at the site, he's very concerned about the implications of the announcement:
"They (workers) are going to be thinking do I hang on for the couple of years for the electric arc furnaces to be built or do I go now.
"We've got a lot of work to do with the company to come up with a way of retaining those people so we can keep the plant running.
"Because that's the biggest fear we've got at the moment - retaining the employees to keep operating the furnaces until the electric arc furnaces are put in.
"As a union we will support all our workers, all our members. We will fight to save every single job. Some will say this is what comes with progress.
"I would disagree with that - there's other technologies out there that we should be looking at - it's doesn't have to be electric arc - there's other stuff we can use."
British Steel CEO and President, Xijun Cao, said:
“Decarbonisation is a major challenge for our business but we are committed to manufacturing the home-made, low-embedded carbon steel the UK needs.
“We have engaged extensively with the public and private sector to understand the feasibility of producing net zero steel with our current blast furnace operations. However, thorough analysis shows this is not viable.
“Detailed studies show electrification could rapidly accelerate our journey to net zero and drive British Steel towards a sustainable future. It would also ensure we can provide our customers with the steel they require.
“Our owners, Jingye, have already invested £330 million in British Steel in just 3 years and they’re committed to the unprecedented investment our proposals require.”
The Government says it is completely committed to the future of the steelworks and discussions are still ongoing on a support package for British Steel.