Tata Steel: Port Talbot staff fear year of uncertainty

Alun Hughes, a welder for Tata in Port Talbot, says job losses are "almost certain"

Workers at the UK's largest steelworks face a "year of uncertainty", according to a long-term employee.

Alun Hughes, 60, from Llangennech in Carmarthenshire, said he feared for his job at Tata Steel in Port Talbot, where he has been a welder for 15 years.

A restructure of Wales' largest carbon emitter with 3,000 jobs losses was announced in November.

The plant's Indian owners said they were committed to working towards producing steel in a greener way.

Unions proposed a plan with fewer redundancies while respecting the aim for lower carbon emissions, but Tata has not made a formal announcement on the future of a site where steel has been made since 1902.

Mr Hughes told Newyddion S4C he felt job losses were "almost certain".

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"If you want to create steel of a good standard in a way that's less polluting, that's going to affect the workforce," he said.

"Less people will be needed to make that clean steel. So there will be redundancies. How many? I'm not sure."

The UK government has promised £500m to transition the Port Talbot site to arc furnace technology powered by electricity

He said he had recently become a union workshop rep to "get as much information as I can" about the company's plans.

The wait, he said, had meant skilled staff leaving.

"One example - a man who is very skilled in his work, he's leaving to start a new job in the new year," he said.

"The worry is too much for him - the uncertainty."

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

"I'm over 60, so if there are redundancies, I'll be up against people who are much younger than me.

"And if 3,000 jobs go at Port Talbot, you can multiply that by three or four with all the businesses who rely on Tata."

A spokesperson for Tata said discussions with the three main unions were continuing.

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