Tata plant may shut two months early due to strike

Workers at Tata Steel have been told that the company is taking steps to potentially cease operations at the plant by 7 July because of a strike by the trade union Unite.

The company had originally been planning to shut down one of the blast furnaces by the end of June and the second one by September.

But workers at Port Talbot have been told that because of the strike from 8 July, the company can no longer be assured of sufficient resources being available to ensure safe and stable operations.

The Welsh government said it cannot and will not support the closure of both blast furnaces.

Last week the Unite union announced that about 1,500 workers would begin an indefinite strike on 8 July over the company's plans to cut thousands of jobs.

About 2,800 Tata Steel workers will lose their jobs when the company closes both blast furnaces in Port Talbot by the end of September.

At the time, the company said if the strike affected the safety or stability of its operations it would be "forced" to accelerate closure plans.

A spokesperson for Tata said: "Following the announcement by Unite union to unilaterally call strike action from 8 July, Tata Steel is unfortunately forced to commence legal action to challenge the validity of Unite's ballot.

"In the coming days, if we cannot be certain that we are able to continue to safely and stably operate our assets through the period of strike action, we will not have any choice but to pause or stop heavy end operations [including both blast furnaces] on the Port Talbot site.

"That is not a decision we would take lightly, and we recognise that it would prove extremely costly and disruptive throughout the supply chain, but the safety of people on or around our sites will always take priority over everything else."

Tata said it is again calling on Unite to withdraw its industrial action and join Community and GMB unions in "giving consideration" to the companies proposal, which Tata said includes "generous employee support packages, training and skills development".

It said it "understands" the impact the restructuring will have on many employees and contractors, but that it "remains committed to a just transition" and hopes for a "long and sustainable future" in the UK.

The Unite union has been asked to respond.

First minister Vaughan Gething described the news from Tata as "extraordinary" and urged the company to wait for the result of next week's general election.

In a statement, Mr Gething said: "The news that Tata could switch off Blast Furnaces 4 and 5 at Port Talbot next week is extraordinary and will cause huge anxiety for the workforce, their families and the community.

"The Welsh government cannot and will not support the closure of both blast furnaces".

He added that acting whilst the nation went to the polls did not help de-escalate matters.