Tata Steel has started a formal 45-day consultation on its restructuring which is set to lead to thousands of job losses.
The company is planning to shut down blast furnaces at its plant in Port Talbot, south Wales, and switch to a more environmentally friendly way of producing steel.
The Indian-owned steel maker said 2,423 jobs across the 海角视频 are at risk, with 1,929 of those in Port Talbot, which employs 3,859 people.
At Port Talbot Tata is to end its two blast furnace operation with investment in an new electric arc furnace that will make steel from scrap.
A spokesperson said: 鈥淭oday we have started the formal consultation process with our trades union partners regarding the proposed restructuring of the 海角视频 business.
鈥淭his information sharing and consultation process will continue for a minimum of 45 days, through which we hope to have an open and constructive dialogue regarding the challenges the business is facing.
鈥淎s required, we have submitted the headline numbers of roles that would be impacted at each of our 海角视频 sites, and shared these through the 海角视频 Steel Committee.
鈥淲e understand what an unsettling time this is for our people and we are determined to give every support to our employees, contractor partners and communities with the help of the Transition Board, which met again yesterday.鈥
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 鈥淭ata鈥檚 announced plans are short sighted and are not in the best interests of the company, the workforce or Britain. This consultation period must be used to take stock of where we are now.
鈥淔ollowing talks with Unite, Labour has been very clear that funding will be made available and confirmed that it will put 拢3 billion into the 海角视频 steel industry. Tata has already confirmed that it wants to see the detail of Labour鈥檚 plans and that it is open to building a new DRI facility 鈥 which means they will need these highly skilled workers.
鈥淭ata must now take up Labour鈥檚 offer and begin conversations prior to the forthcoming general election. Failure to do so could make Britain the only G20 nation completely reliant on importing high grade steel. This would be a threat to our national security.
鈥淚f Tata believes it will be a tick box exercise on a done deal, it is very much mistaken. Unite will be meeting with members to discuss potential action to oppose the proposed job cuts.鈥
Unite regional secretary for Wales Peter Hughes said: 鈥淭he proposed redundancies would be devastating for the workforce, Port Talbot and south Wales 鈥 and would leave the 海角视频 unable to make virgin steel.
鈥淯nite will be entering into consultation with Tata over these plans and will be crystal clear that they should not be happening. We cannot have rushed talks and the statutory consultation period of 45 days is entirely inadequate given the sheer scale of the proposed job losses and the knock-on effects they would have.鈥
Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, GMB national officer, said: 鈥淭he company has today triggered the minimum 45-day consultation period and has shared the details of those affected.
鈥淕MB鈥檚 position remains that we do not accept the need for any non-compulsory job losses. We are engaging with our experts to analyse Tata鈥檚 latest proposal.鈥
A 海角视频 Government spokesperson said: "We recognise that this is a concerning time for Tata鈥檚 employees at Port Talbot and we will continue to support staff affected by the transition.
鈥淭he 海角视频 government has put in place one of the biggest support packages in history, with a 拢500 million grant as part of the 拢1.25 billion commitment by Tata to secure the future of the Welsh steel industry.
鈥淎dditionally, 拢100 million has been put towards the creation of a Transition Board - 拢80 million from the 海角视频 government and 拢20 million from Tata Steel. The Board is chaired by the Secretary of State for Wales, to directly support those affected.
鈥淭his record level of support shows just how much the 海角视频 Government values the Welsh steel industry and the people and communities whose livelihoods depend on it.鈥
