Labour woes

New Delhi, March 14 (PTI): British trade body Community Union has threatened industrial action at Tata Steel’s European arm Corus if the latter fails to show concrete plans to protect the 1,600 jobs at the Teesside Cast Product (Mills) by March 15.

“Without concrete guarantees from Corus that it will protect the livelihoods of our members at Teesside, Community Union will be forced to consider an industrial solution to the closure of the plant. We have made it very clear that if Corus fails to produce a satisfactory answer to the Teesside question, Community and the other unions will take action,” it said.

On March 1, four trade unions at Corus joined hands to form the National Trade Union Steel Co-ordinating Committee and gave the management 14 days to find a buyer for Teesside and save the livelihoods of 1,600 employees.

The combined body of unions had threatened to take recourse to industrial action if the management failed to initiate steps by tomorrow.

The united body of four trade unions, comprising officers from Community Union, Unite, the GMB and UCATT, had said on March 1 that if Corus failed to demonstrate the necessary leadership and progress over the next 14 days, it would implement alternative plans to safeguard steel making across the UK.

“I will be meeting steel officials from our sister unions today to discuss the actions of Corus which have led to 1,600 redundancies on Teesside and the wanton destruction of the union-management partnership across the country,” Community Union general secretary Michael J. Leahy OBE said via email.

“We have seen repeated attacks on core terms and conditions across the country, a pattern of poor consultation and the loss of thousands of jobs. The sacrifices of our members have saved Corus over £1 billion last year, yet this loyalty is rewarded by a management team which has washed its hands off Teesside,” he said.

Tata Steel’s European arm started the process of mothballing some of the mills at Teesside over about a month back, a move that will render 1,600 workers jobless.

The development follows last year’s decision of a four-member consortium, led by Italian major Marcegaglia, to break an offtake agreement with Corus.