By Bethany Wales
Labour is calling for the government to take urgent action to cover thousands of workers facing redundancy at the country’s biggest steel plant.
Tata Steel is planning to replace blast furnaces at its Port Talbot site with an electric arc furnace – a greener method of production which needs fewer workers – putting more than 1,900 jobs at risk.
Shadow Welsh secretary Jo Stevens has demanded the government acts faster to get support in place for workers and communities.
Labour has called for dedicated employment advisers to be placed in the community to coordinate and deliver support for those affected.
The party has committed to invest up to an additional £2.5bn – on top of the government’s planned £500m – in the UK steel industry during the next parliament if it wins the general election.
Ms Stevens said: “Thousands of jobs are at risk in Port Talbot and steel communities across south Wales because Conservative ministers have failed to act, with devastating economic shock waves that will reverberate for decades.
“The Welsh secretary’s transition board looks more like a talking shop.
“Labour doesn’t want to see a single job go at the site, but Conservative ministers must up their game and prepare at much greater speed to protect workers and communities.”
Tata Steel’s proposed changes have triggered huge backlash, with around 1,500 workers voting to strike for the first time in 40 years.
However, the company said even more jobs would be lost without the operational updates, with the plant allegedly making losses of “£1.7m a day”.
Bosses have warned workers they would lose the “enhanced” redundancy package that was on offer if they went ahead with industrial action.
Alasdair McDiarmid, assistant general secretary for one of the unions representing the workers, Community, added: “It’s vital that all steelworkers affected by Tata’s damaging plans get timely access to training and job search support, and the Labour Party is right to press the company and government ministers on this.
“We are clear that this offer should be accompanied by an employment guarantee which ensures that those impacted receive wage support right up until they re-enter employment.
“We believe this would be the best use of the transition board’s considerable resources.”
