Around 1,500 workers in Port Talbot and Newport Llanwern have collectively voted for industrial action for the first time in more than 40 years after Tata’s decision to shutdown blast furnaces and axe thousands of jobs.
Port Talbot and Llanwern steelworkers are set to go on strike for the first time in over 40 years against Tata’s plan to axe 2,800 jobs and shut down blast furnaces.
About 1,500 Tata workers represented by Unite have overwhelmingly voted for industrial action and aim to cause ‘maximum impact’ to fight back against the company.
Tata has other choices than to slash 2,800 jobs according to Unite, who said that the Indian multinational worth over $31 billion had secured a commitment from Labour that it will invest £3 billion in UK steel – six times more than the current £500 million pledge by the Tories – if it wins the next election as expected.
Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite said: “This is an historic vote. Not since the 1980s have steel workers voted to strike in this way. This yes vote has happened despite Tata’s threats that if workers took strike action, enhanced redundancy packages would be withdrawn.”
The last time workers engaged in industrial action was back in 1980, when 100,000 Port Talbot steelworkers were up against British Steel Corporation for unfair pay during the anti-union Thatcher era.
The 1980 strike was one termed as one of the largest of its kind in post-war history up until the 1984–1985 miners’ strike, which lasted well over 11 months.
Unite Wales regional secretary Peter Hughes disclosed that members have received “bribes” and “threats” from Tata for partaking in the strike action, but it won’t stop them from speaking out.
Hughes said, “They will not be intimidated into standing by while Tata attempts to carry out an act of devastating industrial vandalism against their jobs and communities, inflicting untold harm on the Welsh economy and the UK’s national interest.
“Our members have their union’s absolute support in striking to stop these cuts – Unite is backing them every step of the way.”
According to the House of Commons Library data, steel making contributed £2.4 billion to the UK’s GDP in 2021 and supported 39,000 jobs.
For years, Port Talbot has played a crucial role in upholding the steelmaking business by employing over 4,000 steelworkers in a town with 35,633 people.
She added, “In the UK, Tata’s plans and those of the government reflect the short-term thinking of a clapped-out disinterested government marking time to a general election,” while highlighting that a tenfold increase in demand is predicted in the years to come.
“In the crucial weeks to come, Tata’s workers and Unite will put up picket lines to prevent the company from taking this disastrous path.”
Dates for the strikes that are soon to take place will be announced soon, but the union said that it was bound to cause “maximum impact”.
