A HAMMER BLOW FOR SCOTTISH STEEL JOBS
400 at risk as last plants face closure ‘in days’
S COTLAND’S oncemighty steel industry is facing its death knell with the closure of the country’s last two major steelworks expected in days. Global manufacturer Tata is feared to be preparing to axe both of the plants as part of a devastating round of 1,200 job losses across the UK.
Opposition politicians and union leaders called it a ‘hammer blow’ to a declining industry that employed tens of thousands of workers at its peak.
They have called on the Prime Minister David Cameron and the Scottish Government to intervene. Tata oper- ates the Clydebridge plant in Cambuslang, where it employs about 70 people, with the remainder of its 400 Scottish workforce based at its Dalzell plate-rolling works in Motherwell.
Both Lanarkshire sites have been giants of Scotland’s internationally renowned heavy manufacturing sector for more than a century.
Clydebridge’s steel plates were formed into many of the most famous ships built on the Clyde. Tata declined
to confirm the job cuts, which are also likely to include sizeable reductions at its facility in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, following a summit called to discuss the future of the steel industry in the UK.
But the firm said that it had been facing challenges in Britain, such as a surge in cheap Asian steel imports and the strong pound.
Emerging from the summit, Karl Koehler, Tata Steel’s chief executive of European operations, described the situation generally as ‘ serious’ but said: ‘ Today was not about announcements. When we have something to announce, we will do it in the appropriate fashion.’
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said that the Scottish Government had been in ‘constant contact’ with Tata and union leaders since the company first announced the sale of its long products division a year ago to find a viable future for its Scottish sites.
He added: ‘ In the unfortunate event of any redundancies, our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (Pace), stands ready to offer support for affected employees and to work closely with the company and workforce representatives to provide a tailored package of support, should this be required.’
It is only three years since the company failed in a bid to supply steel from its Motherwell plant to build the new £1.4billion Forth crossing. Union bosses believe that thousands of tons of material could have been handled by the Dalzell works, safeguarding scores of Scottish jobs in a deal thought to be worth up to £40million.
Union sources last night told the Mail that Tata’s entire UK-wide network would have benefited as a result, potentially making the works more viable.
But deals were struck by the Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors consortium to fabricate 37,000 tons of steel in China, Poland and Spain.
Only when the Spanish plant pulled out was it decided to use some steel supplied by Tata Steel from its Scunthorpe mill and its Dalzell plant, with 24,500 tons still fabricated in Shanghai, China, and 4,200 tons in Gdansk, Poland.
In contrast, when the original Forth Road Bridge was built between 1958 and 1964, around 90 per cent of the steel was manufactured by Scottish firms. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady described the news of the job losses as ‘a hammer blow for British steelmaking and manufacturing in the UK’.
She added: ‘Ministers have been far too slow to wake up to the crisis facing heavy industry in Britain. Today’s crisis summit should have happened months ago, not at the 11th hour.
‘The Government must now step in to stop the loss of even more highly skilled jobs. The lack of a coherent industrial policy is costing the UK dear.’
Business Secretary Sajid Javid said after the summit it was a ‘hugely difficult time for the steel industry across the world – one of the toughest times ever’.
He added: ‘It is a worldwide problem and while it will not be solved overnight, we will work closely in partnership with the industry to help find some answers.
‘We will also continue to do everything we can to support workers and to continue building a strong economy across the country.’
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale warned the j ob cuts ‘would not only be the end of an era, it would be devastating for the workers, their families and the local economies’.
She added that union bosses would be working hard over the weekend ‘to secure as many jobs as possible’.
Sonny Harper, 71, who used to work at Clydebridge, said the jobs blow would devastate the area.
He said: ‘They used to make the finest steel. It supplied steel for warships. It had a great name and great reputation. It was a happy place to work.
‘It’s terrible. I feel for the young fellows coming up now. It’ll be the end of steel in Scotland. It’s tragic. Absolutely tragic.’
THE potential loss of 400 jobs from the steel industry in Scotland is devastating for those directly involved – and has broader significance.
If confirmed, the job losses would spell the end of steel-making in Scotland, breaking a connection that goes all the way back to the country’s pre-eminence in the industrial revolution.
There is more at stake here than a longing for the days when the Clyde was fringed with cranes and echoed to the sound of hammers crafting ships for the world. The sector’s woes are complex and rooted in the global economy – steel for the new Forth crossing was sourced in China, Poland and Spain.
But we can ill afford to gamble our future on cheap imports. China’s massive economy is currently in a dip. Who knows how long that will last?
But of one thing we can be certain – this slowdown will, eventually, pass. Stronger domestic demand will mean that whatever the Chinese do export will command a premium.
The Scottish Government has rightly been in lengthy talks with Tata over its operations at Motherwell and Cambuslang.
It is vitally important that every possible solution is explored in the hunt for a possible solution that could save jobs.
It is not enough to let the fabulously wealthy owners of Tata shrug, play the global market card and then walk away.
Yet there must be realism too. There is no magic wand to cure all of industry’s ills.
It would be disappointing too if the industry were to fade away just as Chancellor George Osborne is laying the groundwork necessary to launch his Northern powerhouse and begin what he calls ‘the march of the makers’.
In a perfect world, those makers would work with raw materials made here in the UK.
As we know, this is an imperfect world. And even the unions’ dream of state intervention is filled with pitfalls and problems.
Prestwick Airport sets an alarming precedent. Bought for £1 to save it from closure, it has since needed millions more in taxpayers’ cash.
Its future still remains uncertain and the public have seen little discernible return on their investment.
As we await the final word from Tata, we can but hope that we are not witnessing the final throes of a oncemighty industry.