The board of the steel giant met in India today to discuss its plans to decarbonise the site.Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community Union is now calling for the company to "not close down the industry" urging it to "pull back from the brink" of any major decision as it moves towards a greener future.
A Tata Steel spokesman said: "We hope to start formal consultation with our employee representatives shortly. In these discussions, we will share more details about our proposals to transition to a decarbonised future for Tata Steel UK. "Port Talbot town was built around Port Talbot steelworks. If we lose then we're destroying the community."With Tata not making any announcement today, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has condemned the steel giants' "consideration of mass redundancies" and doesn't see the need "for one single job cut".
"Unite's plan for steel would see the UK once again become a world leader in steel, doubling production, safeguarding employment and creating thousands of new jobs."Port Talbot has two blast furnaces to produce steel used in everything from cars to cans. There has been a steelworks in the town almost since it first appeared on maps. The first plant was built by William Gilbertson in Port Talbot between 1901 and 1902.
In the late 1960s, the steelworks were taken into public ownership under the British Steel Corporation.