There has been much wringing of hands & gnashing of teeth over the impending closure of the Port Talbot steel works by Tata Steel. Politicians of left and right have dug out their Road Atlases & rushed over to be photographed consoling the poor sods who work there demanding they ‘Save our Steel’. The Government will promise a lot & deliver nothing. Labour will urge the re-nationalisation of the failing plant which is reportedly losing £1 million per day. So who would pay for that £365 million per year to save 13,500 jobs – The British taxpayer – the same taxpayer who would be moaning about the loss of their local library or maternity ward.

What the workers desperately need is some brutal honesty:-

• British Steel is no longer economically viable in the global market place.
• The total volume of world steel production produced in the U.K is less than 0.1%
• There are lots of British companies benefiting form cheap Chinese steel.
• No one is going to buy Port Talbot & run it in its current format.
• The Government will do NOTHING to save the plant.

So what should be done:-

• The Unions should focus on obtaining maximum redundancy pay.
• If any of the ‘higher value’ operations can be salvaged this is where the emphasis should be.
• The Government needs to do more to encourage alternate employers to the area by the extension & creation of enterprise zones.
• Employees need re-training & re-skilling.

chris@amberhill.biz

www.amberhill.biz