Tata Steel will not change its plans to shut down the blast furnaces at Port Talbot in Wales, UK, as these assets are causing "unsustainable losses" of £1 million a day. Furthermore, the company may only speed up those plans should there be any risk to safety of the operations, the Tata Group company has said.
Tata Steel's statement follows a strike call given by a section of workers there.
Around 1,500 Tata Steel workers in Port Talbot and Llanwern have said they will begin an indefinite strike from July 8 in protest against the company's plans to close the blast furnaces and reduce 2,800 jobs.
"Tata’s workers are not just fighting for their jobs - they are fighting for the future of their communities and the future of steel in Wales. Our members will not standby while this immensely wealthy conglomerate tries to throw Port Talbot and Llanwern on the scrapheap so it can boost its operations abroad," said Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, Britain's largest trade union.
Mumbai-headquartered Tata Steel had announced in April this year that following seven months of formal and informal level national level discussions with UK trade unions, it would proceed with its £1.2 billion investment to build a state-of-the art electric arc furnace in Port Talbot and commence closure of the existing heavy-end assets in the following months.
Tata Steel has said this would be the largest investment in UK's steel industry for decades, safeguard steel sovereignty in Britain and preserve 5,000 jobs.
It had informed unions that Port Talbot's two blast furnaces number 5 and 4 will close by end of June and end of September respectively.
A Tata Steel spokesperson said late on Friday that they were extremely disappointed by Unite's "unilateral decision" to call a strike.
"Our existing steelmaking assets are near the end of their life, are operationally unstable and causing unsustainable losses of £1 million a day. This is why preparations to close the blast furnaces and associated plants in Port Talbot are unchanged. However, if the safety and stability of our operations are put at risk by this action, we will be forced to accelerate those closure plans," the spokesperson stated.
The spokesperson further said after extensive negotiations with unions, the company had substantially improved its support offering for affected employees. It was the "most generous package" in the company's history, the spokesperson claimed.
"Rather than taking strike action, we would have expected Unite to put our improved offer to its members, as previously accepted by all unions, including Unite.”
According to Unite, UK's Labour Party has called for Tata Steel to halt its plans and wait until the general election to engage in talks with the government.
Labour has pledged £3 billion for UK steel, if elected next month, a commitment secured by Unite, it further said.
