Steelworkers set to march through Port Talbot amid fears for jobs
Unions call on plant owners to consider alternative plans for green transition
Last updated 11th Nov 2023
Steelworkers will stage a march through Port Talbot later in a show of support for the industry in the town.
The event, organised by the steelworkers' union Community, follows fears of thousands of job losses under plans by owners Tata to produce "green" steel through huge investment in the plant.
The union is urging the company to reconsider its plans to move Port Talbot to an electric arc furnace-only site, and to look at alternative ways of decarbonising the works in a way that protects jobs.
Community national officer Alun Davies said: "Steel has been the lifeblood of Port Talbot for over 120 years, and nearly everyone in the town and the surrounding areas will know someone with a connection to the works.
"Community's march on Saturday is an opportunity for the community in Port Talbot and beyond to come together in support of our steel industry.
"Steelworkers know just how vital decarbonisation is to the future of the sector, and that the steel they produce can play a vital role in helping the country go green.
"But the plans Tata have laid out are just decarbonisation on the cheap. Under their proposals, carbon emissions would be offshored to heavy-polluting countries which Britain would become reliant upon for virgin steel - steel which we should be producing here and is vital to our economy and security.
"This bad deal for steel would see thousands of dedicated, skilled, and passionate steelworkers thrown on the scrap heap; with UK taxpayer money being spent to support jobs around the globe, at the expense of jobs here.
"It doesn't have to be this way, and there's a just transition for steel that's available if Tata are prepared to show ambition and give our steel workforce the vote of confidence they deserve. The company need to pause and listen to the alternative proposals which our experts at Syndex will be publishing shortly.
"In the meantime, the community in Port Talbot will make its voice heard this Saturday. It's time to save our steel, and give our industry its future back before it is too late."
Tata Steel has been approached for comment.
Meanwhile, the Unite union has set out a Workers’ Plan for Steel making key demands that if delivered would make Britain a world leader in steel production.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Businesses, community groups and people in their thousands are joining Unite’s campaign to see politicians commit to the Workers Plan for Steel. But Unite, and the people of Port Talbot, will not stop until the current plans for the steelworks – which are a town killer – are vastly improved.
“Our elected representatives must choose a better way forward, one that secures Port Talbot’s position as a leader in steel production where decent jobs now and in the future are created not lost.
“Unite is urging everyone in Port Talbot that hasn’t done so to demand their politician’s sign up to the Workers Plan for Steel.”