Unite launch billboards across Sheffield in support of steel workers
Campaigners warn of the "death of steel" if action isn't taken
Unite the Union have teamed up with UK steel workers to launch a billboard campaign in Sheffield to demand investment into "green steel".
The advertisement- a picture of Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer's faces with the title 'WHOSE SIDE ARE THEY ON?'- can be seen on 11 different billboards across the city, including Meadowhall Road where the protest was held (pictured above).
The same has also been unveiled in Middlesbrough, Port Talbot, and Scunthorpe- other Northern powerhouses in the steel industry.
The Government announced last week that it will pump £500 million into the Tata plant in Port Talbot to produce "greener" steel, and that the plant itself will add an extra £700 million to that figure.
Although 3,000 jobs are expected to be lost in Port Talbot, Nigel Garbutt- the senior rep for multiple steel factories across South Yorkshire- said:
"Without government investment, the steel industry will die because, purely, it's not green. Other European countries are investing in green, without investment and turning to green steel, the UK steel industry- like here in Sheffield- will disappear, no doubt about it."
Sheffield, known universally as "The Steel City", is yet to receive such investment and, as Rishi Sunak sets out goals for the UK to become carbon net zero by 2050, the steel industry will not survive.
Almost all the steel factories in the UK are blast furnaces, which run on a thing called coke- the fuel- which is mostly coal, a major contributor to our nation's carbon footprint.
The alternative- and what Unite the Union and steel workers across the country are demanding investment for- are "arc furnaces" which use clean electricity to melt steel.
In comparison, Sweden has announced the construction of a hydrogen plant which will produce "green steel".
Martin Mayer, secretary of the Trade Union Council in Sheffield said, "Wake up the people of Sheffield! Wake up the politicians! We've got to act to save our steel. Steel is a vital industry, in fact you can't have a modern industrial economy without it.
It's no good importing it, we need to make it ourselves. To do that, we have a plan of action which we are asking everyone to support."
You can read more about their plan of action here.