Industrial action at giant steel firm Tata suspended by Unite

A planned strike by workers at steel giant Tata over job losses has been suspended.

Members of the Unite trade union have taken industrial action, including banning overtime work, and are planning a general strike from next Monday.

The union is locked in a dispute with the company over plans to close two blast furnaces at its Port Talbot plant in south Wales and switch to a greener method of producing steel that requires fewer workers.

The union said the current protest action and the strike planned for next week have been suspended.

Unite said the move follows confirmation from Tata at high-level talks this weekend that it is ready to start negotiations on future investment in its operations, not just job losses, in south Wales, including Port Talbot.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This is a significant step forward in the fight to protect jobs and the long-term future of steelmaking in south Wales. The investment Labour has secured through Unite will be vital to the future of the plant.

“This groundbreaking event would not have happened without the courage of our members in Port Talbot who were prepared to stand up and fight for their jobs. Workers were simply not prepared to stand by while steel production came to an end and their communities were devastated.

“It is essential that these talks progress quickly and in good faith, with particular attention paid to new investment and ensuring the long-term continuation of steel production in south Wales.”

Community and GMB unions are also demanding that Tata change its plans but are not calling for a strike.

Alun Davies, Community national officer, said: “With thousands of jobs at risk, we welcome Unite’s decision to withdraw from the strike and return to talks with steel unions.

“Tata has confirmed that if the strike is called off, it is prepared to resume talks on a potential MOU (memorandum of understanding) through the Multi-Union Steel Committee, which is chaired by Community.

“The truth is that Tata never withdrew from these talks and at our last meeting on May 22, all unions agreed to end the negotiations and present the results to our members.

“The community would welcome the resumption of these discussions, but we regret that no progress has been made since May 22.”

The first blast furnace is scheduled to be shut down on Thursday, and the second one at the end of September.

A Tata Steel spokesman said: “We have received written confirmation from the Unite union that with immediate effect they are suspending current operations, with the exception of the strike, as well as potential strike action due to commence on 8 July.

“As a result, and given that we can now be confident that we will provide adequate resources to carry out operations safely, we will pause preparations for the early shutdown of Blast Furnace 4 and the wider heavy end at Port Talbot, scheduled for this week – we are pleased to have avoided having to go down this route.

“The resumption of talks with UKSC will be a progress on the position reached at the last meeting on 22 May and will focus on the future investment and aspirations of the business, rather than a renegotiation of our current plant closure plan or extended employment support terms.

“The process of shutting down Blast Furnace No. 5 is already underway and we expect to produce the last piece of iron by the end of this week.”