Tata Steel is heading "towards a major industrial dispute" if it does not "listen" to the multi-union proposal for the decarbonisation of its Port Talbot plant in south Wales, Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of Community Trade Union, said in a note to members yesterday.
The National Trade Union Steel Coordinating Committee met with Tata Steel executives, including managing director TV Narendran, in London yesterday, where the unions responded to the company's restructuring proposals — namely the closure of both its blast furnaces and total hot-end.
The primary "red line" for unions is keeping blast furnace number 4 operational until 2032, Rickhuss said. However, this is not possible with the 3mn t/yr electric arc furnace (EAF) proposed by Tata, partly because of space and safety constraints when construction is under way.
And the EAF will only enable the company to produce around 2.5mn t/yr of hot-rolled coil (HRC), impacting Tata's downstream operations, union sources suggest, citing information from consultancy Syndex.
Syndex's plan devised for unions had suggested Tata should move to two smaller EAFs and retain blast furnace number four until 2032. The plan also recommended the construction of a direct reduced iron plant, although Syndex has told unions the business case for this is "weak" because of costly UK energy, and issues with supply.
