Tata Steel in the UK is planning to shed 1,200 jobs at the company’s Scunthorpe plant and may also cut jobs at two plants in Scotland.
The move comes as the British steel industry is still reeling from SSI’s decision to close its blast furnaces and coke ovens at Redcar on Teesside.
Surging imports of cheap steel from China and a strong pound are being cited as key reasons behind the decision.
According to Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community union, the government needs to take action. Tony Burke, assistant general secretary at Unite said the industry had reached crisis point.
According to Burke, the government should keep SSI’s Redcar plant up and running to enable the British steel industry to benefit from big projects like HS2.
However, Business Secretary Sajid Javid said the problem facing the steel industry was global and not limited to the UK. There is no magic bullet, he said.
In June this year talks between Tata and the Klesch Group about selling the Scunthorpe plant fell into disarray and Klesch CEO Gary Klesch blamed the failed sale on the UK government for not acting to stop Chinese steel producers dumping cheap steel on the UK market.
Source: BBC News