Tata: Unite says steel jobs should be created not lost

The UK government has promised Tata £500m to keep the Port Talbot site open and to decarbonise its operations there

A union says it plans to both defend existing jobs and lobby for creating new ones at a steelworks at risk of thousands of redundancies.

Unite, which represents some of the 4,000 steelworkers in Port Talbot, and other unions said they had been told 3,000 jobs at the plant were at risk.

The fears were due to plans to cut carbon emissions at the UK's largest steelworks.

An expected announcement by owners Tata Steel in November was withdrawn.

But unions are now split over plans for the site.

The Community and GMB unions have backed a plan which supports decarbonisation, but would "protect more than 2,300 jobs over a decade and would see no compulsory redundancies in Port Talbot".

But though it jointly commissioned that plan, the Unite union has now publicly rejected it.

In a document shared with Newyddion S4C, Unite's general secretary, Sharon Graham, called for the expansion of steel production in the UK.

She said this could be achieved by the UK "winning a leader's share of the growing market for green steel" and "the support of progressive public procurement policy".

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She added: "We will not accept the closure of any part of the Port Talbot site unless and until the investment is put in to build alternative production facilities with no loss of jobs."

The 22-page document claimed UK steel production could be "at least doubled" by 2035

It also reported the UK "only produced 60%" of the steel it needed last year.

The report called for all public contracts to use British steel only, claiming that would put £7 billion into the economy.

The union also wants energy price caps and public ownership of the electricity grid, adding Germany and France "have recently introduced major energy subsidy schemes for their industries".

It said national investment of £12 billion by 2035 would "ensure growth" and "easily pay back the taxpayer by boosting industry revenue and keeping thousands of people in work".

Port Talbot steelworks employs 4,000 of Tata's 8,000 workforce

The report claimed that union representatives had unanimously agreed on two proposals for the Port Talbot site at a meeting last month.

The first steps included building a new, greener, electric arc furnace by 2027 and keeping a blast furnace open until 2034.

The second suggested building more electric arc furnaces, building a lower-carbon iron producing facility and creating a new industrial zone near the existing plant.

The Unite plan is independent and therefore outside the UK steel committee, where joint unions discuss plans with Tata.

Tata Steel said it was in ongoing discussions with employee representatives and the UK and Welsh governments and all groups were "committed to transitioning to greener steelmaking in the UK".

"Those discussions are being held in good faith and are open, honest and helpful," it said.

"There are no formal discussions taking place or proposals being considered by the company outside of those through the UK Steel Committee."

When asked for a timescale of when a formal announcement on the company's future plans for decarbonisation could be expected, no answer was given.