Union in talks with Tata Steel in push to avert early Port Talbot closure

Members of the Unite union met Tata Steel executives on Friday in a push to avert Britain’s biggest steel producer from bringing forward the closure of its two blast furnaces in south Wales to as early as next week over planned strike action.

Unite is now considering allowing some of its workers to keep working in order to ensure the safe operation of the furnaces at Port Talbot, after being urged to do so by the Labour party leadership, according to people close to the talks.

Indian-owned Tata on Thursday threatened to shut down the furnaces, two of Britain’s last remaining such facilities, from next week for safety reasons unless Unite called off its strike. Tata said it had also started legal action against the union, challenging the validity of the ballot.

The indefinite stoppage is due to start on July 8.

The company has been planning to close one of the furnaces by the end of June and the second by September as part of a deal with the Conservative government to switch to a greener form of steelmaking.

That deal, which has yet to be signed off, has caused controversy because it would result in up to 2,800 job losses — a prospect that has precipitated the imminent Unite strikes.

Labour, which according to polls is on track to win the general election on July 4, has urged Tata to reconsider. The party has suggested it could draw up a more generous offer than the current government in return for fewer job losses.

But the company has expressed little interest so far in changing course, arguing that retaining the second blast furnace until a less carbon-intensive electric arc furnace is up and running would not be operationally feasible or affordable.

Jonathan Reynolds, shadow business secretary, was in talks with Tata, the Welsh government and the GMB, Community and Unite unions late into Thursday evening over how to keep the second furnace open, according to Labour officials.

“It’s a really, really tense and really difficult situation,” said one party figure.

Labour, and some other trade unions, believe Unite’s “brinkmanship” over strike action gave Tata an excuse to potentially shut down the second furnace rather than wait for a Labour government to negotiate a better offer, according to people close to the discussions.

During the talks on Thursday Reynolds urged Unite to allow some workers to be exempt from striking to keep the plant running, the people said.

With days to go before the election, the situation is on a hair trigger because Tata appears to be trying to bounce Labour into accepting the previous Conservative deal, the people said.

Under the agreement taxpayers would provide £500mn and the Indian company would invest £750mn while switching to an electric arc furnace. “Their [Tata’s] view is that that is the only deal possible; it’s not Labour’s view,” said one person close to the talks.

Tata declined to comment on the meeting with Unite. People close to the talks on Friday said they were positive and would resume on Monday.

Onay Kasab, national lead officer at Unite, said the union had never ruled out the possibility of exempting some workers from strike action. “The message from us is we would not put our members or the plant or the town at risk. We will negotiate derogations,” he said. “We have asked that Tata does not make any irreversible changes before the election.”

Labour said it had “repeatedly said no irreversible decisions should be made before the country chooses the next government”, adding that it would “rebuild the UK steel industry, including Port Talbot, to protect jobs . . . and transition sustainably to green steel making”.