{"id":6718,"date":"2015-11-11T10:50:23","date_gmt":"2015-11-11T10:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=6718"},"modified":"2015-11-12T13:15:35","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T13:15:35","slug":"the-heavens-reflect-our-labours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=6718","title":{"rendered":"‘The heavens reflect our labours’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

People lined Scunthorpe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s streets in solidarity yesterday, as hundreds of protesters marched through the town demonstrating against mass redundancies at a Tata Steel plant.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

900 Tata jobs are to be axed in Scunthorpe, along with a further 270 in Scotland. The redundancies come at a time of unprecedented crisis for Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s steel industry, caused by the flooding of cut price Chinese steel onto the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s markets, as well as high energy prices. More than 4000 steel industry jobs are at risk across Britain.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The potential effects for Scunthorpe, where steel production has been the major industry for 125 years, are devastating. Shop windows throughout the town centre are displaying \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSave Our Steel\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 posters, as the community looks to a recalcitrant government for help.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite member Jessica Collinson was one of nearly a thousand marching to Scunthorpe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Civic Centre to deliver a petition demanding politicians take action. The 20-year-old electrician, who has been at the steel works for nearly five years, was clear about what needs to happen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey need to stop the dumping of cheap Chinese steel, cut the business rates and reduce energy prices. It there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no steelworks there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no Scunthorpe,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wall of light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It is evident that most of Scunthorpe believes the same. On Saturday Scunthorpe United, nick-named \u00e2\u20ac\u0098The Iron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 after the abundance of iron ore in the area, dedicated their first round FA Cup game against Southend to the steel workers and their families. Players and coaching staff wore \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSave Our Steel\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 t-shirts and fans created a \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwall of light\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 in the crowd using their mobile phones.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The public also made their support clear yesterday as the marchers made their way up the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s busy high street. People left their workplaces to applaud and cheer, while many of those caught in the stopped traffic provided a chorus of beeping horns.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEveryone knows someone who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worked, or is working, there,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Unite member Laura Clark.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Laura, 22, joined the steelworks as an apprentice as soon as she left college. She has worked at Tata for six years, but the instrumentation technician now faces an uncertain future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUniversity wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a feasible option for me, because of the costs. When I first got the job it was amazing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c everyone was really proud. My nana and great grandmother both worked at the steelwork offices,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Laura said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNow there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a constant worry. If this goes there isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to be very much left. The steelworks provide for a lot of people.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nor is it just about the economic devastation the closure of Tata Steel will reap. The industry is enmeshed in the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cultural identity. When 91-year-old former steelworker Bryan Birkett heard about the march he insisted on being taken along in his wheelchair. His son Edward said first and foremost Bryan was determined to show solidarity, but that it was also an opportunity for his father to enjoy the company of his fellow steelworkers again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sales assistant Emma Tune, 28, was marching for her family and understands all too well how important steel is to Scunthorpe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s history, as well as its future. Her father, grandfather and great grandfather were all steelworkers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nice to see such a lot of people today,” Emma said. “But then the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only here because of the steelworks. Scunthorpe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s motto is \u00e2\u20ac\u0098The Heavens Reflect Our Labours\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. During the Second World War it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s said the smoke from the steelworks masked the town from the German planes and saved us from the bombs. But the fact is now that the government would rather spend money outside the country than inside it.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Two directions<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite convenor for Scunthorpe steelworks, Martin Foster, also laid responsibility at the door of the politicians. He says that at present the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwarm words\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and \u00e2\u20ac\u015bconsideration\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 offered by local councillors, the government and the EU just aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf the Scunthorpe works were to close, the town and local area would be devastated,” he said. “If anyone doubts that then just go and visit some of the coal mining towns, which are still trying to recover. Our industry has been through crisis before, especially in the early 80s, but we have always found a way through.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut this time the government, both locally and centrally, are the only people with the power to change this situation. In one direction lies help with energy costs, with business rates, with carbon taxes, with procurement and with restrictions on cheap imports, which give us a fighting chance at survival on a level playing field. The other direction is a dead end and we all know what happens then.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a dead end all of Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 18,000 steelworkers are praying they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not forced to go down.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People lined Scunthorpe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s streets in solidarity yesterday, as hundreds of protesters marched through the town demonstrating against mass redundancies at a Tata Steel plant.   900 Tata jobs are to be axed in Scunthorpe, along with a further 270 in Scotland. The redundancies come at a time of unprecedented crisis for Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s steel industry, caused […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[430,269,108],"wps_subtitle":"Scunthorpe steel march draws hundreds","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6718"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6718"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6720,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6718\/revisions\/6720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}