The UK’s leading union Unite has announced that it is preparing to escalate industrial action at the Port Talbot and Llanwern plants after Tata Steel UK, a subsidiary of India-based steelmaker Tata Steel Limited, threatened to cut redundancy payments. 1,500 Unite members will begin an overtime ban from June 18 to disrupt and delay the company’s operations and order books unless the company rows back on the closure. In addition, the company has told workers that the general election in the UK on July 4 will not affect its plans to close its blast furnaces.
Port Talbot’s two blast furnaces No. 5 and No. 4 will close by the end of June and by the end of September this year, respectively, resulting in job cuts, contrary to the union's plan which would have kept one blast furnace in operation during the construction of an electric arc furnace, as SteelOrbis previously reported.
“Unite never takes a backward step in supporting our members in their fight to preserve their jobs, pay and conditions, and the workers at Tata have the union’s complete support,” Peter Hughes, Unite secretary for Wales, said.