News of the latest round of cuts comes following the announcement of 1,200 job cuts at Tata’s sites in Scunthorpe and Lanarkshire last October.
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There will be 750 jobs cut from the company’s largest United Kingdom plant in Port Talbot and at Llanwern, although exact losses for each plant were left unconfirmed.
Steel prices are at a ten-year low due to the record amount of Chinese exports and the crisis has been compounded by United Kingdom firms paying some of the highest energy costs and green taxes in the world.
Contacted by AFP, Tata Steel declined to comment.
“Retaining the right skills for the future will be critical, but we will look to minimise employee hardship and redeploy employees where possible”, director of Strip Products UK, Stuart Wilkie said.
He said his constituents felt a “palpable sense of anger and frustration” over the United Kingdom government’s handling of the steel crisis – and said there must be action taken or the industry could fall into a “wasteland”.
Across the UK Tata Steel employs more than 17,000 people, boosting the British economy by approximately £200m every year. “We must all work together to secure the future of the steelworks and of our local economy to ensure a future for our town”. Unions have accused the government of failing to deliver on promises to help.
You would like to think the government might do so – but there’s no evidence the current United Kingdom government has any inclination for such an initiative. The steel industry in Wales needs a level playing field, and nothing less.
The British steel industry is facing another blow after Tata announced that more than 1,000 jobs will be lost at the company, as criticism mounted that the government was not doing enough to support the industry.
As global markets slump, and over capacity as it is, it seems the worldwide steel industry is struggling to overcome turbulent market forces.
As we usher in the New Year feeling positive about United Kingdom industry and 21st Century innovation more widely, are we about to be saying goodbye to an old friend, traditional player, and foundation industry?
Communitys General Secretary, Roy Rickhuss said: “Our immediate thoughts are with all the steelworkers and their families affected by todays announcement”.
Business minister Anna Soubry said: “The steel industry is having to take tough decisions in the face of extremely challenging conditions but this is deeply disappointing news”.
The UK government said it was “meeting key steel industry asks” through cutting energy costs and taking action on imports and European Union emissions regulations.
Many service firms and contractors rely on the Port Talbot plant, so the direct cuts will have a knock-on effect across the whole region.
Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesperson at Downing Street said this marked a “worrying time for the workforce”.
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“We’ll work very closely with the company and with the local communities to do everything we can to get people the training and assistance they need, and will continue to do everything we can to help the steel industry”.
