Tata Steel Dutch staff won’t face job losses

Tata Steel said on Friday it had reached an agreement with its Dutch labour unions that there would be no compulsory redundancies from the company's transformation programme.

They also said employment pact for staff at the Netherlands would be extended by five years.

A company statement said the Tata Steel's Dutch management team would discuss the transformation programme and the resulting job losses with the local works council following a consultation process.

Hans van den Berg, Tata Steel’s Ijmuiden hub director, said: “We are pleased to report we have reached an agreement with all unions. That is good news for Tata Steel, for Ijmuiden and all of us. We held discussions late into the night, and thanks to everyone's constructive attitude reached an agreement.”

Henrik Adam, CEO of Tata Steel in Europe, said: “This agreement should give our employees the confidence that Tata Steel is fully committed to building a sustainable future for Ijmuiden. We share an ambition with our employee representatives to restore Ijmuiden’s position as the most competitive steel plant in Europe.”

Dutch labour union FNV, said: “No people will be fired in Ijmuiden during the reorganisation from Tata Steel Europe.” Roel Berghuis, director of FNV Metaal, said: “After 25 days of strike, the management has finally listened to the wishes of the employees.” FNV is one of the unions at Ijmuiden. There are about 9,000 workers at Ijmuiden. Tata Steel Europe has two integrated steelmaking sites: Ijmuiden in The Netherlands and Port Talbot in south Wales.

Last year, Tata Steel Europe had announced restructuring plans and indicated that it could impact 3,000 jobs.