Unions ‘cautiously welcome’ Tata Steel merger but demand assurances for staff

The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to combine their European steel operations in a proposed 50-50 joint venture.

While the deal is expected to generate annual savings of between €400m (£353m) and €600m (£529m), as many as 4,000 jobs could be lost across the two companies.

As always, the devil will be in the detail and we are seeking further assurances on jobs

UK trade unions statment

Heinrich Hiesinger, CEO of Thyssenkrupp, said: “We will not be putting any measures into effect in the joint venture that we would not have had to adopt on our own. On the contrary: by combining our steel activities, the burdens for each partner are lower than they would have been on a stand-alone basis.”

In response, the GMB, Unite and Community unions “cautiously welcomed” the deal, but said they would press Tata Steel to demonstrate its long term commitment to steelmaking in the UK by confirming investment in the reline of Port Talbot’s Blast Furnace No.5.

Tata Steel employs roughly 15,000 people in the UK, many of whom work at the Port Talbot plant.

Cast-iron guarantee

A joint statement from the trade unions said: “This [merger] would create the second biggest steel business in Europe, which could deliver significant benefits for the UK. As always, the devil will be in the detail and we are seeking further assurances on jobs, investment and future production across the UK operations.

“We are now seeking an urgent meeting with Tata to fully understand their intentions for the UK in the context of the joint venture. We are also making arrangements to bring together senior representatives from across the UK to determine our approach to this significant new development.”

The unions also demanded assurances that Thyssenkrupp’s pension liabilities will be ring-fenced “with a cast-iron guarantee” that UK steelworkers will never fund German pensions.