Tata and unions in eleventh hour talks over early Port Talbot closure
Tata Steel faces a £500m hit over its decision to close Port Talbot steel works months earlier than planned, it has been revealed, as company bosses and trade union officials push for a last-minute deal.
The company enraged unions last week after it revealed plans to bring forward the closure of its blast furnaces in south Wales from September due to strikes.
It has now pushed back plans to make a final decision on the future of the works, The Sunday Times reported, after agreeing further talks with the Unite Union on Monday. It had initially planned to make a final call on Sunday.
Unite had called indefinite industrial action beginning on July 9, a move which created a split between the two other unions at the plant, Community and GMB, both of which had pledged to avoid calling strikes.
Unite says its plans to end steel production at Port Talbot will results in the loss of 2,800 jobs. It is urging Tata to wait until a change of government before making any “irreversible decisions.”
“That is the only demand Unite is making at this point. Unite can then meet with government, other unions and Tata, to negotiate investment in jobs rather than abandoning the steel workers in Wales,” the union said.
Tata’s steelworks runs two blast furnaces and the company has said Unite is at fault for its decision to bring forward their closure to no later than July. It says it cannot guarantee the safety of one of the furnaces until a previous deadline of the end of September should unite workers walk-out.
In a letter to employees on Friday, Tata Steel’s UK chief Rajesh Nair said “minimum safety cover is not sufficient to allow safe operations” at the site. “Therefore our preparations for ceasing operations next week… have to continue.”
He added: “Senior Unite officials are expected to meet with their local representatives at the start of next week to discuss the remaining proposed derogations from the company.”
The Indian-owned firm has launched a High Court challenge against Unite’s strike action. A ruling is due on Wednesday.
But if the legal challenge is unsuccessful and talks with Unite fall through, it will face a half a billion pound hit, industry sources told The Sunday Times. The expense would be so high as Tata would need to fulfil contracts with its customers by buying steel elsewhere, while also facing a loss on raw materials ordered over the coming months.
Tata Steel have been approached for comment.