Tata Steel wants to hear union alternatives for Port Talbot - minister

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

Wales' economy minister minister has suggested Tata cancelled an announcement of a possible job losses at Port Talbot so it could hear alternative proposals from unions.

The company had been expected to announce the end of blast furnace production at Port Talbot within months, scrapping up to 3,000 jobs.

Unions are working with a consultancy to find alternatives.

Vaughan Gething said he wanted to see "meaningful consultation" with unions.

The union's study, drawn up by consultancy Syndex, is expected to be published soon.

Amid fears held locally that steel making at Port Talbot could end altogether, Mr Gething said that was "always a risk" but it was not a "realistic" prospect.

"That is not what the company are saying, it is not what they are planning to do," he told a news conference on Tuesday.

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Asked whether he knew why Tata did not make its formal announcement last week, he said: "In the conversations we've had, we have been told that the company wants to understand the proposals that are imminent from the trade union side".

"That's good news, as far as it goes.

"But we have then made clear in all of our conversation with both Tata and the steel trade unions that our call will be for genuinely meaningful consultation".

He said that would not be "receiving [it] and the next day rejecting it".

The UK government has promised £500m to keep the Port Talbot site open, and transition it to an electric arc furnace - which is powered by electricity instead of the coal used in blast furnaces.

It is part of a plan to attempt to decarbonise the process, as the electricity can come from renewable or low carbon sources.

The decision would end the production of new steel at the site - electric arc furnaces use recycled scrap metal.

The Labour minister expressed concerns about the UK having to import more new, "primary" steel in future, and the environmental impact that may have.

Mr Gething said: "We cannot underestimate the potential impact on those thousands of families and the potential devastation of the local economy and the wider supply chain."

"We're concerned not only about the impact on employees and communities, but also in avoiding offshoring our emissions from Wales to other parts of the world."

He said it is his understanding that the tin plating plant at Trostre in Llanelli needs primary steel for it "to work".

Mr Gething added: "If all blast furnace activities end without an alternative way to make primary steel then the UK could be the only G7 country not to have primary steelmaking capability.

"That is a choice for the UK government, which has consequences if you are then reliant on a future where all of that steel needs to be imported."

'Stepped in with half a billion'

Welsh Secretary David TC Davies said UK Conservative ministers were aware that there may be a threat to jobs and they were ready to support any workers who faced redundancy.

"That's why we stepped in with half a billion pounds to help them build an electric arc furnace to protect jobs, protect the supply chain and why I'm chairing a body with a £100m budget to support anyone who does lose their jobs and enable them to get training and go into other well paid jobs," he said.

"At the moment, the decision about redundancies is something that has to be done legally, in consultation between Tata and the unions, and the UK government will not have a say in that, but we will be there to support anyone who loses their job as a result."

Plaid Cymru South Wales West MS Luke Fletcher, who speaks for the party on the economy, said any job losses in Port Talbot would have a "staggering impact in Port Talbot and the surrounding communities, where many, many people rely on these jobs".

"In Plaid Cymru, we've called many times for a just transition at the forefront of any decisions made regarding the future of the vital steel industry," he said.

"It really is possible to have a competitive steel industry here in Wales with a significantly reduced carbon emission rate.

"But we cannot lose this already skilled workforce - they are a key part of the transition."

Community General Secretary Roy Rickhuss said last week: "We welcomed Tata's decision to cancel their announcement on the future of Port Talbot's heavy end.

"It's important that the company now uses this opportunity to pause and engage with the unions, and our experts at Syndex, to develop alternative options to decarbonise our industry."