Workers at Tata Steel to go on strike
Unite members based in Port Talbot and Llanwern set to walkout in protest at job losses
Last updated 21st Jun 2024
Workers at steel giant Tata are to strike in protest at the company's plans to close blast furnaces with the loss of jobs.
Unite said around 1,500 of its members based in Port Talbot and Llanwern, south Wales, will begin an indefinite strike on July 8.
Unite members are already working to rule and banning overtime but the announcement of a strike is a significant escalation.
Tata is switching to a greener form of steel production which requires fewer staff, so up to 2,800 jobs are being cut.
Unite said it will be the first time in over 40 years that steel workers in the UK have taken strike action.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Tata's workers are not just fighting for their jobs - they are fighting for the future of their communities and the future of steel in Wales.
"Our members will not stand by while this immensely wealthy conglomerate tries to throw Port Talbot and Llanwern on the scrapheap so it can boost its operations abroad.
"They know south Wales is ideally placed to take advantage of the coming boom in green steel - if the right choices are made.
"The strikes will go on until Tata halts its disastrous plans. Unite is backing Tata's workers to the hilt in their historic battle to save the Welsh steel industry and give it the bright future it deserves."
Community and the GMB unions are also campaigning against the plans but have ruled out taking industrial action before the General Election.
The unions expect an incoming Labour government to hold emergency talks with Tata to discuss alternatives to its proposals.
Tata has made it clear it is pressing ahead with switching from blast furnace production to an electric arc, as other steel companies are doing.
Tata says it is losing £1 million a day at Port Talbot which it has warned is unsustainable.
The company offered an enhanced redundancy package to workers affected by the plans, but this was reduced after Unite started its industrial action earlier this week.
- The strike announcement comes two years to the day since members of the RMT rail union went on strike, kicking off a wave of walkouts by hundreds of thousands of workers over pay and conditions, including nurses, teachers and junior doctors.