{"id":5969,"date":"2015-09-28T15:56:04","date_gmt":"2015-09-28T14:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=5969"},"modified":"2015-09-30T11:15:46","modified_gmt":"2015-09-30T10:15:46","slug":"save-our-steel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=5969","title":{"rendered":"Save our steel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite delegate Ian Cameron (pictured front in blue shirt) spoke today (September 28) at the Labour party conference in support of UK steel, specifically calling on the government to intervene after it was announced this morning that 1,700 jobs were to go after the mothballing of a steel plant in Redcar.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI come from Corby \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which was a steel town until 1980,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Cameron noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe plant was closed and a third of the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workforce was made redundant.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe demand of this motion is simple \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want a similar fate to happen in Redcar.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Cameron recounted how he and other marched several years ago to save the Redcar steel plant, which was owned by Tata at the time.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTata did close the plant but it was re-opened by SSI,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs other speakers have said this morning it has been confirmed that SSI are mothballing the plant with the loss of 1,700 jobs. Steel is the lifeblood of the local economy and runs through the community\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s veins.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe workers at SSI have worked tirelessly to make the plant a success against a backdrop of high energy costs and difficult market conditions,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Cameron added. Yet now SSI are mothballing the plant \u00e2\u20ac\u201c ending iron and steel making operations.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis week Redcar steelworkers were paid, but only because HMRC fast-tracked money owed to SSI,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYet despite the possibility they weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to be paid next month people still turned up for work, such is their deep determination to keep the plant running, secure their jobs and maintain their employment rights. Now they have received this morning\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s devastating news.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe want this government to urgently step in and \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Save our Steel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and support those workers.
\n“The plant in Redcar and the wider UK steel industry \u00e2\u20ac\u201c plants such as Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and other local communities are of strategic economic importance \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we cannot allow vital manufacturing skills and expertise to be lost forever.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe other evening while George Osborne was touring China, promoting his \u00e2\u20ac\u0098march of the makers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and his \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Northern powerhouse\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, workers were holding a torchlight rally with the local MP to keep the light burning at Redcar,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Cameron recounted.<\/p>\n

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He highlighted that Unite was looking forward to developing Labour policy with Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Angela Eagle’s new shadow team in Business Innovation and Skills \u00e2\u20ac\u201d policy which he said was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bbased on investment and an end to austerity economics to boost economic growth and productivity.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Echoing Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sentiments from earlier in the day<\/a>, he called for the development of a manufacturing and industrial strategy based on decent, stable work; the ability for the workforce and unions to have a say in their companies and industries, a proper gold standard apprenticeship system, support for Small and Medium sized Enterprises.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut right now, the priority is to do everything we can to support our members and the local community \u00e2\u20ac\u201d pressing government ministers to intervene and save our steel and the Redcar plant,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Cameron concluded.<\/p>\n

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Watch his full speech in the video below:<\/p>\n

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