Tata Steel UK workers vote to strike

Tata Steel UK workers based in Port Talbot and Newport Llanwern and part of the Unite union have voted to strike to protest job losses and blast furnace closures, th eUnite union said April 11.

"The ballot for strike action by members of Unite, the UK's leading union, closed today with workers voting in favor of industrial action over Tata's 'disastrous' plans," Unite said, adding that it was the first time in over 40 years that Port Talbot steelworkers had gone on strike.

"We are naturally disappointed that while consultation continues, Unite Union members at Port Talbot and Llanwern have indicated that they would be prepared to take industrial action up to and including strike action if an agreement cannot be reached on a way forward for the business and its employees," a Tata Steel UK spokesperson said in a statement.

"We have written to Unite Union twice during the ballot process to notify them of significant irregularities in the ballot process they have undertaken."

Around 1,500 steelworkers will join the strike, although a date has not yet been set, Unite said.

A Tata Steel UK spokesperson told S&P Global Commodity Insights April 12 that the vote had given the union the authority to call industrial action up to and including strike action, with any decision to wait until the Community ballot has been completed, which was around May 9.

"Even then, I believe they are obliged to give the company one week's notice," he said.

The spokesperson said it was impossible to say what impact the strike could have, as it would depend on whether any industrial action took place and to what extent.

Tata Steel UK previously said it would shut its coke ovens March 20 due to "deteriorating operational stability", saying it would start the process of closing and purging the coke ovens at the Port Talbot site and also cease operations at the byproducts plant.

It said at the time that the ovens were part of several heavy-end assets that were at their end-of-life capability.

Tata also said in January that it would idle both blast furnaces by the end of 2024, but would invest GBP1.25 billion ($1.56 billion) in electric arc furnace-based capacity to secure steelmaking in Port Talbot and facilitate a transition to low-CO2 steelmaking. The planned start of the EAF is targeted for early 2027.

Current business 'unsustainable'

A Tata spokesperson said in a statement that the company had started a formal information sharing and consultation process with its trade union colleagues after the January announcement, which continued "in an open, collaborative and constructive fashion."

He added that it had then in March also put forward "a significantly enhanced, comprehensive package of support for employees impacted by the proposed transformation."

"While the GBP1.25 billion commitment with the UK Government will ensure a long-term viable future for low-CO2 steelmaking in the UK, our current business is unsustainable, reporting losses of more than GBP1 million a day," the spokesperson said.

"This investment is critical as much of our existing iron and steelmaking operation in Port Talbot is at the end of its life, is unreliable and inefficient, and it was for this reason that we had to cease our coke-making operations on 20 March."

Tata Steel added that producing steel from existing scrap in the UK rather than importing iron ore and coal would result in more resilient UK manufacturing supply chains.

"Our ambition remains to move forward at pace with a just transition, and to become the center of a future green sustainable industrial ecosystem in the UK," the spokesperson said.

Unite said it had secured a commitment from the UK's Labour party that it will invest GBP3 billion in UK steel, up from the GBP500 million pledged by the current government, which gave Tata options about what to do with its UK operations.

"Unite will be at the forefront of the fight to save steelmaking in Wales. We will support steel by all and every means," Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said.

"Other EU countries are transitioning their steel industries while retaining and growing their capacity because they know steel has a bright future -- a tenfold increase in demand is predicted in the coming years," she said, adding that Tata and the government's plans in the UK were "short-term thinking."

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the weekly UK hot-rolled coil price at GBP605/mt DDP West Midlands April 11, down 5.5% since the start of 2024.