Tata Steel offer new talks with unions if Port Talbot strike called off

Bosses at Tata Steel have offered to hold fresh talks with unions about their plans in Port Talbot, but only if planned strike action is called off.

In a letter to the UK Steel Committee, which represents the Community, Unite and the GMB unions, the company has offered to discuss future investment in Port Talbot, but the unions would be required to suspend future industrial action.

It comes after the steel giant announced last week that it would bring forward plans to shut down both blast furnaces at its biggest plant unless a strike was called off.

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

But workers were last week told that because of the strike by members of Unite from July 8, Tata could no longer be assured of sufficient resources being available to ensure safe and stable operations.

A message to employees said: “Therefore, we are left with no alternative but to take preparatory steps to cease operations on both blast furnaces and safely isolate them no later than July 7.”

Tata has made it clear it is pressing ahead with switching from blast furnace production to an electric arc furnace, as other steel companies are doing.

Tata says it is losing £1million a day at Port Talbot which it has warned is unsustainable. Tata has also insisted it is not safe nor financially practical to build an electric arc furnace at the Port Talbot site while the current blast furnaces are still operational.

Unite called the strike in protest at plans to switch to a more environmentally-friendly way to produce steel, with the loss of thousands of jobs.

Tata has also launched legal action against Unite’s ballot.

Community and the GMB unions are also campaigning against the plans but have ruled out taking industrial action before the General Election on 4 July.

The letter, sent by Tata Steel UK chief executive Rajesh Nair on Sunday, 30 June, said: "As you are aware, as a result of the intended continuous strike action of Unite membersfrom 8 July and the fact that the company cannot be assured of appropriate levels ofskilled resource to maintain safe operations, we have had to announce that we are preparing to cease operations of both blast furnaces and the wider heavy-end in Port Talbot next week.

"We are engaged in ongoing discussions with Unite representatives about potentialderogations from the strike action to enable continued safe operation of the heavy-end.The discussions to date have not secured the required derogations to assure safeoperations and therefore we have no choice but to continue to prepare to cease allheavy-end operations earlier than planned.

"This is not the preferred action of the company."

Mr Nair says an intended meeting to discuss the final proposed wording of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) did not take place due to Unite announcing strike action would begin on 8 July.

He said the company wants to "continue our meetings with all unions of the UKSC (UK Steel Committee) to finalise the wording of the MoU and the specific details of the future assurances for TSUK contained within it, and for all unions to then place the final details of the MoU in front their members for consideration and decision, as previously committed in the meeting on 22 May 2024.

"If the industrial action short of a strike ceases and the notices of intended continuous strike action and action short of a strike are withdrawn by Unite, then we would welcomethe opportunity to have further discussions with all members of the UKSC, includingPeter Hughes on behalf of Unite, to finalise the MoU.

"As we have mentioned separately, and as stated in the joint letter to the company from Community and GMB unions, we recognise that no MoU will be concluded and agreed until after the impending general election."

Alun Davies, Community national officer, said: "There are no fresh talks. The letter to the UK Steel Committee simply reaffirms the position agreed by Community, GMB, Unite, and the company, at our last meeting of 22 May.

"It’s welcome if Unite are re-establishing their commitment to the position they previously agreed, which is the position that Community and GMB have maintained throughout.

"This position is that all unions will seek to conclude the negotiations on a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) and then put this to their members to decide whether it’s good enough.

"Furthermore, and importantly, the letter from Tata reaffirms that all discussions will take place through the UK Steel Committee, which is chaired by Community’s general secretary Roy Rickhuss."

In a joint statement released in response to Tata's announcement that both blast furnaces could close early, First Minister Vaughan Gething and economy secretary Jeremy Miles 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. As we have said many times, the company should wait for the outcome of (the) General Election before taking irreversible decisions. Acting whilst the nation goes to the polls does not help to deescalate matters.

"Urgent and good faith negotiations are now required to ensure safety at the site and avoid an outcome that would have such a severe and lasting impact on Port Talbot, Wales and the UK."

Responding to news of potential further talks, Welsh Conservatives' shadow minister for economy and energy, Samuel Kurtz MS, said: “We welcome any discussions that bring both the steelworkers and Tata to the table to iron out how best jobs can be supported in the short term, as an early closure of the blast furnaces will bring additional distress to communities already dealing with enough as it is.

"The Welsh Labour government have only paid lip service to Tata’s workforce, failing to contribute a penny to the transition board, and UK Labour’s manifesto says nothing on what it would do differently to support Port Talbot’s steelworkers."

Plaid Cymru’s economy and energy spokesperson, Luke Fletcher MS, said: “Tata are not offering a renegotiation on the proposals on the table.

"The blast furnaces are still set to close. This remains a fight for the future of primary steel making at the site.

“Plaid Cymru are committed to a just transition that maintains jobs not just at the site, but in the wider community of Port Talbot.

"The nationalisation of the steel works must be on the government’s agenda now.”

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