Strike called off at Tata Steel's Port Talbot site after offer to negotiate

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Unite workers have called off strike action at Tata Steel over planned job cuts, paving the way for negotiations with the company over the future of its flagship site in south Wales.

Britain’s largest steelmaker last week threatened to bring forward the closure of its two Port Talbot blast furnaces to early July if Unite members insisted on striking indefinitely from July 8, with the company citing safety concerns.

Tata had originally planned to close one of the furnaces by the end of June and the second by September, as part of a government-backed plan to shift to greener forms of production, which would have led to up to 2,800 job losses.

Announcing that the strike would not go ahead, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said on Monday it was “essential” that negotiations with the Indian company “progress quickly and in good faith with a focus on further investment”.

The move came after Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary, spoke repeatedly to Unite representatives over the weekend, urging them to call off the planned strike, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move also comes after Tata wrote to the three unions represented at the company on Sunday, offering to enter into fresh negotiations if the Unite strike was called off.

Rajesh Nair, Tata Steel UK’s chief executive, said in the letter, seen by the Financial Times, that the company “would prefer to avoid ceasing operations prematurely and continue meetings with all unions to finalise… the specific details of future assurances”.

Tata had previously said it would offer enhanced redundancy packages, as well as investment in skills and training for workers affected by the closure of the blast furnaces, two of the last remaining such facilities in Britain.

The planned work stoppage by Unite members had dismayed Community, the steel union and the GMB union, who feared it would lead to the early closure of the second furnace.

Alun Davies, Community’s national officer, said he welcomed Unite’s decision to “withdraw its strike and return to the negotiating table with its sister steel unions”.

“The truth is that Tata never gave up on these discussions and at our last meeting on May 22, all unions agreed to conclude the negotiations and submit the outcome to our members,” he added.

Unions hope that if Labour wins Thursday’s general election, as polls predict, the party may still be able to persuade Tata to reconsider keeping one of the furnaces until a less carbon-intensive electric arc furnace is built.

The old oven will be closed this week as planned.

Tata struck a £500m support deal with the Conservative government last September to move to greener forms of steel production. As part of the deal, which has yet to be signed, Tata said it would invest £750m.

Labour has promised to get a better deal if it wins power, although Tata has consistently refused to keep the second blast furnace open for longer, arguing that it would be neither operationally feasible nor affordable.

But people familiar with the situation said the company could promise to invest in new processing facilities if a Labour government offered more investment.

Tata confirmed that following Unite’s “written confirmation” that the union had ended the strike, the company would “halt preparations for the early shutdown of operations” at Blast Furnace 4 and its associated facilities.

The resumption of negotiations with the three unions would focus on “future investments and the company’s aspirations” but would not constitute a “renegotiation of our existing plan for the closure of heavy plants (blast furnaces and other facilities that support iron and steel making) or improved employment support conditions,” the company added.

The Labour Party has been contacted for comment.