‘Half a billion pounds to make 3,000 unemployed’: Job cut fears from Port Talbot state aid deal – business live
Introduction: Job loss fears at Port Talbot
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
The spectre of possible job losses is stalking Britain’s biggest steelworkers today, as the UK government and Tata Steel close in on an agreement to secure the future of the site.
The Port Talbot steelworks in south Wales is home to two of Britain’s four remaining blast furnaces, employing around 4,000 workers.
After months of talks, the government and the Indian-owned company are thought to be close to announcing an aid package to help Port Talbot transition to produce “greener” steel, possibly as soon as today.
That could include a £500m aid package from the UK, with Tata providing around £700m, to switch the plant’s two coal-fired blast furnaces to electric arc versions. They would be less polluting and run on zero-carbon electricity.
But the shift could still lead to hefty job losses, with unions angry that they have been locked out of the talks.
Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, GMB national officer, said:
“Government intervention in the steel industry is long overdue, but imposing a program without proper worker consultation is unacceptable.
“GMB has urged ministers and Tata Steel to have a longer-term view on the decarbonisation of steel.
“It is not a just transition if thousands of jobs are sacrificed in the name of short-term environmental gains.
“We wholeheartedly support the move to modernise and decarbonise the industry, in fact we have sought this type of investment for years.
“But ignoring technologies outside of electric arc furnaces will mean tens of thousands of people will lose their livelihoods.”
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch and Welsh Secretary David TC Davies are expected to visit the South Wales site today to announce the deal.
But The Mirror newspaper is reporting that at least 2,000 jobs could be lost at Port Talbot, in a devastating blow to the local economy.
The agenda
-
7.45am BST: French inflation report for August
-
10am BST: Eurozone trade balance for July
-
2.15pm BST: US industrial production data for August
-
3pm BST: US consumer confidence report from the University of Michigan
Key events
Here’s a video clip explaining why the blast furnaces at Port Talbot could be replaced with newer, greener, electric arc furnaces that require fewer workers to operate:
Yesterday, Wales’s economy minister Vaughan Gething criticised UK business secretary Kemi Badenoch over a ‘lack of dialogue’ over the impending Port Talbot state aid deal.
On X (formerly called Twitter), Gething called for “a regular formal dialogue” on the issue, and published two letters he had written to Badenoch.
In one of them, Gething said:
With the reports in the press that a deal might be imminent, it was critical that we had the opportunity to discuss the progress of your negotiations with Tata Steel and the implications not only for the company but for the workforce, the community and the whole of the sector.
The company sits at the heart of one of the UK’s most industrialised regions. Decisions by Tata Steel on the nature and timeframe of its decarbonisation journey will have a profound impact on wider strategic planning for the region.
I have met with the First Minister and Climate Change Minister to discuss today’s media reports.
In the interests of the industry, workers, and their communities, we need a regular formal dialogue on this matter.
My message to the Business Secretary here: https://t.co/zub6Dy8Tfq
— Vaughan Gething (@vaughangething) September 14, 2023
Union leader Alasdair McDiarmid, assistant general secretary of Community, has criticised Tata Steel today.
McDiarmid told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that Tata and the government’s have been focused on rushing through “the cheapest and easiest deal”, rather than the best deal for the steel industry, the Port Talbot workforce and the country.”
McDiarmid said:
“We are extremely disappointed and angry actually about the actions of Tata here.
“They gave us assurances at the highest levels that their discussions with the Government would be confined to their joint financial commitments to support Port Talbot and that any and all decisions on investment and the deployment of whatever technology it may be would be made in partnership with the unions.
“From what we are hearing, it does seem Tata and the Government have done their deal … whilst sacrificing thousands of jobs. That, for us, is completely unacceptable. It’s not the way companies and the Government should be doing their business.”
Aid deal is “spending half a billion pounds to make 3,000 people unemployed”.
Steelworkers have told the BBC that reports of potential job losses in Port Talbot were “frightening” and called for certainty about a deal to decarbonise.
Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds met steelworkers after reports the UK government could offer £500m to Tata Steel to help it reach net zero.
Mr Reynolds said it seemed ministers were “spending half a billion pounds to make 3,000 people unemployed”.
Tata Steel UK said it was “fully committed to meaningful consultation”.
The Community union, which represents steel workers, are also concerned that job losses are set to be announced at Britain’s biggest steelworks under plans to produce “greener” steel.
Alun Davies, national officer for Community union, says:
“There must be a full and meaningful consultation on all the options to decarbonise steelmaking and secure the future of every UK plant.
“Community will do everything within its powers to support our members and protect their jobs.”
Introduction: Job loss fears at Port Talbot
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
The spectre of possible job losses is stalking Britain’s biggest steelworkers today, as the UK government and Tata Steel close in on an agreement to secure the future of the site.
The Port Talbot steelworks in south Wales is home to two of Britain’s four remaining blast furnaces, employing around 4,000 workers.
After months of talks, the government and the Indian-owned company are thought to be close to announcing an aid package to help Port Talbot transition to produce “greener” steel, possibly as soon as today.
That could include a £500m aid package from the UK, with Tata providing around £700m, to switch the plant’s two coal-fired blast furnaces to electric arc versions. They would be less polluting and run on zero-carbon electricity.
But the shift could still lead to hefty job losses, with unions angry that they have been locked out of the talks.
Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, GMB national officer, said:
“Government intervention in the steel industry is long overdue, but imposing a program without proper worker consultation is unacceptable.
“GMB has urged ministers and Tata Steel to have a longer-term view on the decarbonisation of steel.
“It is not a just transition if thousands of jobs are sacrificed in the name of short-term environmental gains.
“We wholeheartedly support the move to modernise and decarbonise the industry, in fact we have sought this type of investment for years.
“But ignoring technologies outside of electric arc furnaces will mean tens of thousands of people will lose their livelihoods.”
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch and Welsh Secretary David TC Davies are expected to visit the South Wales site today to announce the deal.
But The Mirror newspaper is reporting that at least 2,000 jobs could be lost at Port Talbot, in a devastating blow to the local economy.
The agenda
-
7.45am BST: French inflation report for August
-
10am BST: Eurozone trade balance for July
-
2.15pm BST: US industrial production data for August
-
3pm BST: US consumer confidence report from the University of Michigan
