Port Talbot: Tata's Steel 2,800 job cuts are 'devastating'

Tata Steel's plans to cut 2,800 jobs are "devastating" for the UK steel industry, a union has said.

The Community union said the plan was "beyond belief" and its members would now consider their options.

Indian-owned Tata confirmed on Friday that 2,500 of the lost jobs would go within the next 18 months.

Its boss TV Narendran said the job losses were regrettable but necessary in the move to low-carbon steelmaking.

Unions told the BBC most of the 2,500 jobs losses were expected to be in Port Talbot.

"Tata's announcement today is unacceptable," said Community general secretary Roy Rickhuss.

"The decision to plough ahead with the bad deal for steel first announced in September would be devastating for Port Talbot and the wider steel industry."

"Britain's primary steelmaking capacity [will be] decimated and carbon emissions offshored to heavy polluting countries," he added.

Tata will spend £1.25bn - including a £500m UK government subsidy - to replace its blast furnaces with an electric arc furnace that will produce less CO2, but also require fewer workers.

After the plan was officially announced by Tata on Friday, Ieuan Eltham, 29, who left school at 16 to start working for the firm, said: "Nobody knows where they're gonna go from here.

"It's a mix of emotions but disappointment is a big one.

"And [workers are] quite angry about Tata - let's be honest, it's been terrible."

Tata promised to work with unions to "maximise voluntary redundancy" and people who lose their jobs will have access to a transition fund of £80m from the UK government and £20m from the company.

"It's not something we would have liked to happen. I think we tried very hard over the years to preserve the site, keep it going, despite all the challenges," Mr Narendran said.

"Over the last 15 years, I think we've invested something like £5bn to keep the business going. So it's not like we've given up in a hurry or that we've not tried hard enough."

He added that companies around the world must now start turning to low-carbon steelmaking.

"Companies are shifting to it. In Europe, it's already happening. So why should we not do it? And I think we felt this was the best way forward."

Analysis from Gareth Lewis, BBC Wales Political Editor

Research published yesterday suggested that 92% of people in Wales think it is important for UK government and Welsh government to work well together.

But there have been arguments between the two governments at every stage.

About talks with Tata: Welsh government have bridled at suggestions that they refused to take part. They say they declined to take part in any discussion that might involve Port Talbot's closure.

Welsh Secretary David TC Davies then bit back yesterday at Labour's charge that £500m of taxpayers' money was being spent to cut 2,800 jobs. Without us all the jobs would have gone, he argued.

The blunt view from Westminster is that they're the ones stumping up the cash so they should be ones dealing with Tata.

There are rows about whether the plans are ambitious enough - both Welsh and UK Labour would have preferred a look at hydrogen technology, not just electric arc… and a longer-term transition.

But the UK government - and Tata - say hydrogen was not a viable option, a longer transition not practical.

That said, an unlikely Welsh Government ally has emerged in the shape of Senedd Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies, who's unconvinced that one blast furnace could be spared and kept open.

Both governments are part of a £100m transition task force to help workers losing their jobs.

They - and the 92% - will have their fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the UK government was "absolutely committed" to British steelmaking despite the loss of steel jobs.

He acknowledged it "will be a worrying time for everyone affected", but said the alternative was the entire plant being closed, which would have led to 8,000 jobs being lost.

"That's why the government provided £500m to support Tata," the prime minister added.

But Labour said closure would makes UK the only G20 country not producing virgin steel.

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said: "The government said it had a plan for steel. It transpires the plan involves thousands of redundancies."