{"id":8848,"date":"2016-05-25T17:18:59","date_gmt":"2016-05-25T16:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=8848"},"modified":"2016-05-26T12:00:22","modified_gmt":"2016-05-26T11:00:22","slug":"solid-support-for-uk-steel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=8848","title":{"rendered":"Solid support for UK steel"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Hundreds of Unite steelworkers from across the UK joined their colleagues from steel unions GMB and Community in a march in London today (May 25) to press on with their fight to save the industry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The steelworkers marched through Whitehall towards the Houses of Parliament to remind both the government and Tata Steel of their commitment to safeguard the future of steel communities and an industry that forms the bedrock of all UK manufacturing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The marching steelworkers were joined by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as well as dozens of Labour MPs who have pledged their support to safeguard the future of the industry.<\/p>\n

The march comes as the Tata board meets in Mumbai today (May 25) to discuss the sale of its UK operations.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite national officer for steel Harish Patel explained why Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s members came out in full force at today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s march.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re here today to keep the pressure on the government so that they listen to our demands we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made, including lower energy rates, lower business rates and ensuring that we speed up the levy on cheap Chinese steel imports that are flooding the market so that our members have a level playing to compete no matter who the new owners of Tata Steel will be,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTata Steel that they have a shortlisted a handful of buyers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re emphasising is that whoever the buyer is, it must ensure that steelmaking, in particular in Port Talbot, continues and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s investment in research and development as well so that the future of steel industry in the UK,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSteel is a foundation industry and if we were to lose this industry it will have a serious impact on other manufacturing industries in the UK, especially in the automotive and aerospace sectors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stand united <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unite convenor for Tata Steel in Scunthorpe Martin Foster said that the entire UK steel workforce must stand united in order to save their industry \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and livelihoods \u00e2\u20ac\u201c from the brink of collapse.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re here to support the rest of our colleagues in the steel industry,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAlthough the Scunthorpe works has secured a buyer, the future is still not one hundred per cent certain and the government still needs to act on what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve asked for.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis issue hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t gone away \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still here, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still shouting for the steel industry and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to have to listen us and do what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve asked, otherwise the steel industry could disappear.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite senior branch rep Anthony Simpson, from the steelworks in Shotton, also emphasised the need for the government to act swiftly.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur site in Shotton is a downstream operation that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s streamlined and we are actually historically profitable \u00e2\u20ac\u201c this makes our community upbeat about our future,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re facing a lot of uncertainty at our works because of the wider problems in the UK steel industry. The steel industry is interconnected and we cannot assure our continued success unless the government takes action on all our demands, such as on business rates, energy rates and Chinese dumping.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Senior Unite rep Mark Turner came to London from the Port Talbot steelworks, which faces the greatest number of job losses if the site were to shut down. He explained just how central the steel industry was for his community.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur community in Port Talbot would be decimated if the steel works shut down,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be no work. What a lot of people don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand is that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just the steelworks. There are people who work in the steel works for outside contractors; there are also the cafes, the news agents, the garages \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all of those will be affected because of the loss of trade. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have a massive impact.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unwavering <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Turner said that he and his colleagues were unwavering in their resolve to continue piling on the pressure on both the government and Tata Steel to secure a viable future for the industry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to keep on going,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be satisfied until we know that the two blast furnaces in Port Talbot are safe, which will then mean that the whole steel industry in the UK and the supply chain is safe. Until that happens we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to keep campaigning.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite member Steve Irwin, who is an electrician at the Llanwern steelworks, has been working in the industry for 40 years. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s due to retire in the next three days and came to support his colleagues.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Steve

Steve Irwin – showing support<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI thought I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d come down here and show solidarity for the future of the steel industry,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSince the 70s, my community has been devastated by the closure of the coal industry. And then later there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been the slow death of the steel industry. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve worked in Llanwern in steel for four decades \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in its heyday, there were 10,000 of us and now there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only 600, of which there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quite a few going.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSteel is part of the bedrock of British society,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Irwin added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWithout an industrial base, then where are you? If you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t produce your own steel, then you become reliant on foreign countries. And if there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an interruption in that supply, then there goes your entire infrastructure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey explained what exactly would be at stake if the steel industry in the UK disappeared.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf the steel industry went, then we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be the only industrialised nation in the world that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a steel industry \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unthinkable,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt feeds our automotive industry, our defence sector, our construction sector, right throughout our economy. And indeed if we are going to get an improved manufacturing base then we need steel \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s as simple as that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m confident we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to win this fight,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWith the unity that shown by the workforce and the communities, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll win and we will still have a steel industry that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s critical for the future of our nation, for our children and for those who come afterwards.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pics by Mark Thomas<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of Unite steelworkers from across the UK joined their colleagues from steel unions GMB and Community in a march in London today (May 25) to press on with their fight to save the industry.   The steelworkers marched through Whitehall towards the Houses of Parliament to remind both the government and Tata Steel of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[430,269],"wps_subtitle":"Hundreds march for steel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8848"}],"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=8848"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8849,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8848\/revisions\/8849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}