As many as 1500 Tata Steel employees in Wales voted for potential industrial action as a response to company’s plans to close its blast furnaces and cut 2,800 jobs.
Tata Steel’s Response to Industrial Action Threat
Headquartered in Mumbai, Tata Steel, expressed disappointment at this decision. In order to transition to new electric technology, the company underscored the importance of restructuring in order to ensure business sustainability, but the same did not go well with the Union, due to worker disagreement.
The Unite Union members indicated potential industrial action at the Port Talbot and Newport Llanwern plants. The company highlighted that it had notified the union 2 times during the ballot process regarding significant irregularities therein.
While announcing its GBP 1.25 billion investment and UK business restructuring plans in January, the company said that it committed on transparency and collaboration during the formal information sharing as well as the consultation process.
Due to unsustainable losses exceeding GBP 1 million per day, the company decided to urgently restructure the company in order to transition to the more efficient electric arc furnace technology.
Tata Steel emphasized on how the company aims to utilize the existing scrap in UK to produce high-quality, low-CO2 steel and reduce reliance on imported raw materials.
Labour Party’s Alternative and Union Solidarity
On the contrary, the union argued that the company has alternatives since Labour Party’s pledged to invest GBP 3 billion in UK steel, in contrast to the Conservative Party’s GBP 500 million commitment.
The general secretary of Unite, Sharon Graham, while denouncing Tata’s perceived threats regarding redundancy packages, hailed the vote as well as pledged support for steelworkers in Wales.
Peter Hughes, Unite Wales regional secretary, also affirmed unwavering support for members considering strike action to counter the proposed cuts.
Asserting full support for members opposed to the proposed measures, the Unite the union plans to announced the strike dates strategically to maximize the impact.
How the situation unfolds and how the stakeholders react to the same, is yet to be seen.
