Around 3,000 steelworker jobs are in limbo after an announcement by Tata Steel was pulled at the last minute.
Tata had been expected to confirm cuts at the UK’s largest steelworks in Port Talbot yesterday.
But the announcement was cancelled by the firm’s Indian owner Tata Group after a board meeting – a move that blindsided workers and unions.
Staff were left in the dark about the reason for the delay and when to expect an update.
It comes weeks after ministers agreed a £500million deal to rescue the south Wales steelworks from closure and fund its transition to green energy.
Jobs threat:Tata had been expected to confirm cuts at the UK’s largest steelworks in Port Talbot yesterday
In September, the Government said its investment would safeguard around 5,000 of Tata Steel’s 8,000 UK jobs, leaving 3,000 at risk.
Unions welcomed the delay as a chance to reduce redundancies. They previously warned that the deal would ‘rip the heart out’ of the community in south Wales.
Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, GMB national officer, said the union was working hard ‘to offer a viable and reasonable alternative that safeguards jobs and creates a genuinely just transition’.
Tata Group will invest £750million in a deal with the Government to create a greener alternative at Port Talbot.
The funding, worth £1.25billion in total, will replace coal-powered blast furnaces with an electric alternative.
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