Tata Steel has revealed that the coke ovens at its huge plant in south Wales will be shut on Wednesday due to concerns about their “operational stability”. This news was described by the Community union as “a massive blow” for the Port Talbot site. Nonetheless, the union’s national officer for steel, Alun Davies, said that his first concern was his members’ safety. Approximately 200 workers may be affected but, at present, there is uncertainty about their immediate future.
The ovens heat coal to create a hard residue called coke, which then fuels blast furnaces. Steel unions had already known about apprehensions about the condition of the coke ovens for some time and had announced that they wouldn’t resist an earlier closure on safety grounds. However, they are looking for reassurances regarding job security. Employees will be needed to wind down the coke ovens, and there may be the possibility of redeployment to other parts of the plant shortly.
Regrettably, the coke ovens were always expected to close during the transition period, according to Mr Davies. Once the national consultations were concluded, the union might hold a ballot for industrial action should Tata substantiate their intention to close blast furnace number four. Tata Steel chief executive, Rajesh Nair, has stated that the condition of the ovens had deteriorated, making it untenable to continue to run them. “The performance of the coke ovens has been worsening over many months, despite some Herculean efforts by the teams there,” he added.
Currently, almost 2,000 redundancies are projected at the Port Talbot because Tata intends to close both blast furnaces by the close of 2021 and create an electric arc furnace (EAF) by 2027. Three trades unions whose members work at the site are challenging Tata’s proposals and requesting the firm keeps one blast furnace running while the EAF is built. But a consultation is still in progress
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