Action, not meetings

Steelworkers were bitterly disappointed following an EU steel summit, which was attended by leaders from across Europe, including business secretary Sajid Javid.

 
A delegation of Unite steelworkers travelled to Brussels on Monday (November 10) to urge Javid to step in and take action to save the UK’s steel industry, which has suffered thousands of job losses in the last two months alone.

 
Javid met with other EU member state leaders as part of a Competiveness Council to discuss specific steps to save the industry.

 
The Council concluded with ten-point list of “concrete actions” it should look to take, but steel unions have criticised the lack of urgency.

 
The Council also agreed to another future meeting with steel stakeholders to consider further action, a move which Unite has said will only further delay any meaningful change.

 
Community union general secretary Roy Rickhuss condemned the EU leaders for failing to adequately come to grips with the effect that the dumping of cheap Chinese steel has had on the industry in Europe.

 
Higher import duties can be levied against foreign products when they are considered to be dumping their supply into Europe, but such measures can take up to a year to enforce. The US has counteracted the invasion of cheap Chinese steel imports through a much speedier system of raising tariffs that takes only a matter of weeks.

 
“Council ministers and the commission have clearly failed to grasp the urgency of the current situation faced by the steel industry,” said Community union’s general secretary Roy Rickhuss.

 
“Steelworkers whose jobs are at risk and who are seeing the impact of the dumping of cheap steel will take very little comfort from the conclusion of today’s meeting,” he added.

 
“We need action now and would have at least expected a clear statement of intent from the meeting that they will speed up reform of trade defence instruments or introduce other measures so that European steel producers are better protected from dumping.

 
“The promise of yet another meeting of steel stakeholders only delays the action the industry requires.”

 
The UK steel industry faces much more imposing obstacles than the wider EU because it gets much less domestic government support than other member states do.

 
Beyond addressing the issue of Chinese steel imports, Unite has called on the government to help with high energy costs and business rates, and also urged it to implement a procurement strategy that would use British steel for major infrastructure projects.

 
Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke expressed frustration with the EU steel summit on Monday.

“Steel communities across the UK were looking for urgent action, but instead got the promise of more summits and more meetings all of which could prove to be too little too late for the tens of thousands whose livelihoods depend on steel,” he said.

 
“Business secretary Sajid Javid should not fool himself that ‘it’s job done,’” Burke added. “A central part of the UK’s economy is on knife edge and it will be the action he takes over the coming days to save a world class industry on which he will be judged.”