Job Cuts at Port Talbot Haunt Government’s New Plan for Scunthorpe

The ghost of Port Talbot’s 2,500 job losses is haunting the government’s new steel strategy. Business Secretary Peter Kyle’s backing for a similar switch to electric arc furnaces (EAFs) at Scunthorpe has been met with immediate “caution” from a workforce fearing a “repeat” of the Welsh disaster.
The “experience of Tata Steel” last year, which cut thousands of jobs as it moved to EAFs, is the primary source of union anxiety. The technology, while greener, is simply less labour-intensive than the blast furnaces that “employ thousands of people” at Scunthorpe.
Peter Kyle is trying to frame the EAF switch as a move to “secure the future of steel production” at the state-controlled plant, which was itself saved from a 2,700-job closure threat in April.
However, unions are drawing a hard line. The Community union “welcomed the government’s firm commitment to a just transition,” a phrase that is now a key demand. This means the government will be expected to provide financial support and retraining on a massive scale.
The union is also demanding the retention of “primary steelmaking capacity,” a feature the Port Talbot plan sacrificed. This forces the government to find a costly hydrogen-based solution, putting further strain on its depleted £2.5bn steel fund.