The GMB union will attend the first meeting of the Steel Council with Government ministers, UK Steel and other representatives and trade unions to stand up for the future of the UK steel industry.

The meeting will look at how to address long-term issues for the steel sector and propose steps to protect the industry.

This meeting comes on the back of 2,200 redundancies from the SSI-owned Redcar steelworks, 1,200 Tata redundancies in Scunthorpe and Lanarkshire and more than 700 In Port Talbot.

Other proposed redundancies in Corby, Rotherham, Stocksbridge, Wednesbury, Trostre and Hartlepool have led to more than 5,000 jobs lost over the past few months, which the union says has devastated communities throughout the UK.

A union spokesman said: “The steel industry is vital to the UK, directly employing almost 18,000 people in production and contributing about £9.5bn to the economy.”

GMB National Officer Dave Hulse said: “We are looking for real progress being made with the formulation of this new group.

“Since the Steel Summit on October 16, 2015, things have been moving at a very slow pace.

“We have gone from crisis to crisis and really need to see action now otherwise the GMB fears for the long term future of the steel industry.”

 

Source : northantstelegraph.co.uk

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