Saturday, November 23, 2024

Jobs under threat at British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant

Unite the union has vowed to fight to defend every job under threat at British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant.

The declaration comes today (Wednesday 22 February) after the company confirmed it intends to make approximately 300 workers redundant and close its coking ovens, which produce the fuel to power its blast furnaces.

Unite believes that the proposed job losses are a direct result of the Jingye Group, the Chinese owners of British Steel, and its failure to make good on its commitment to make major investments in the plant and the government’s abject inability to produce a coherent industrial strategy to protect the UK’s steel making capability.

According to the union, British Steel has currently failed to provide any evidence for its financial justification for closing the coking ovens, nor has it provided any information about where it intends to source coke from in the future.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “British Steel workers are faced with the toxic combination of a greedy employer that is reneging on investment promises and a shambolic UK government that has no serious plan for the industry.

“Unite’s members in British Steel are clear that they will fight this and they will have the full support of their union.”

Unite national officer Linda McCulloch said: “This union has not yet seen any financial justification for the closure of the coking ovens. British Steel needs to come clean and open its books in order to try to justify its decisions.

“Unite will pursue every avenue, including industrial action, to defend members’ jobs at British Steel.”

Earlier this month British Steel indicated that it was intending to make 1,200 workers redundant across all of its operations. However apart from the coke ovens, it has not indicated where the majority of the job losses would come from.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our news site - please take a moment to read this important message:

As you know, our aim is to bring you, the reader, an editorially led news site and magazine but journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them.

With the Covid-19 pandemic having a major impact on our industry as a whole, the advertising revenues we normally receive, which helps us cover the cost of our journalists and this website, have been drastically affected.

As such we need your help. If you can support our news sites/magazines with either a small donation of even £1, or a subscription to our magazine, which costs just £27.55 per year, (inc p&P and mailed direct to your door) your generosity will help us weather the storm and continue in our quest to deliver quality journalism.

As a subscriber, you will have unlimited access to our web site and magazine. You'll also be offered VIP invitations to our events, preferential rates to all our awards and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Just click here to subscribe and in the meantime may I wish you the very best.

Advertisment












Latest posts

Plans submitted for new mixed-use development in Boston

Boston Borough Council has submitted a planning application for the redevelopment of the Crown House site on the Rosegarth Square regeneration scheme. Within these proposals...

Investment in Australia and America sees international growth for Grimsby kids swimwear brand

Children’s swimwear brand Splash About has seen international growth in both Australia and the USA. The company, which is headquartered in Grimsby, has acquired...

New extension to special school brings additional places for Lincoln pupils

Pupils, staff and partners are celebrating the official opening of a new extension to St Christopher’s Special School in Lincoln. The new block provides additional...

Scout Group awarded £30,000 to renovate outdoor activity area

Goxhill and Barrow Scout Group have been awarded £30,000 Community Grant Funding to go towards the renovation and development of their outdoor activity area.   Work...

The BIG Lincolnshire County Wedding Show returns to the Lincolnshire Showground this Sunday

The BIG Lincolnshire County Wedding Show is back at the Lincolnshire Showground THIS SUNDAY 24th November 11.00am-3.00pm with all the wedding inspiration you have...

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close