British Steel is considering cutting up to 1,200 jobs at its steelworks in Scunthorpe in UK as officials told union leaders at a meeting on Wednesday afternoon that they are considering closing coke ovens at the plant and making hundreds more cuts across its operations. Unions have been informed that the future of British Steel’s coke ovens and its 300 jobs were under review, but it could also make between 600 and 900 cuts across the broader operations. British Steel has not started a formal consultation on the job cuts and it did not outline a timeline in the meetingThe Unite General Secretary Ms Sharon Graham said “This proposal is down to a greedy employer and a shambolic government. Unite completely rejects the plans of British Steel’s multibillion-pound Chinese owners to cut over 1,000 jobs at its plant in Scunthorpe. Steelworkers are suffering from a catastrophic failure in leadership from both the Jingye Group, who own British Steel, and by the government.”Community said job cuts could directly endanger workers by giving them little choice but to work longer hours. Community’s national officer Mr Alun Davies said “He is extremely concerned about the plan. This move would represent a betrayal of their loyal workforce and British Steel’s commitments to invest in the business. We believe this would put staff at risk and is completely unworkable. British Steel is already putting staff at risk by making them work overtime every single week. Cutting hundreds of jobs in this situation will endanger workers by pushing them to work even longer hours in extreme temperatures.”Jingye took over British Steel in 2020 after it collapsed and the UK government was forced to step in to keep it running. Jingye pledged to invest GBP 1.2 billion in the plant by the end of the decade, although those plans are not thought to have been carried out.
British Steel is considering cutting up to 1,200 jobs at its steelworks in Scunthorpe in UK as officials told union leaders at a meeting on Wednesday afternoon that they are considering closing coke ovens at the plant and making hundreds more cuts across its operations. Unions have been informed that the future of British Steel’s coke ovens and its 300 jobs were under review, but it could also make between 600 and 900 cuts across the broader operations. British Steel has not started a formal consultation on the job cuts and it did not outline a timeline in the meetingThe Unite General Secretary Ms Sharon Graham said “This proposal is down to a greedy employer and a shambolic government. Unite completely rejects the plans of British Steel’s multibillion-pound Chinese owners to cut over 1,000 jobs at its plant in Scunthorpe. Steelworkers are suffering from a catastrophic failure in leadership from both the Jingye Group, who own British Steel, and by the government.”Community said job cuts could directly endanger workers by giving them little choice but to work longer hours. Community’s national officer Mr Alun Davies said “He is extremely concerned about the plan. This move would represent a betrayal of their loyal workforce and British Steel’s commitments to invest in the business. We believe this would put staff at risk and is completely unworkable. British Steel is already putting staff at risk by making them work overtime every single week. Cutting hundreds of jobs in this situation will endanger workers by pushing them to work even longer hours in extreme temperatures.”Jingye took over British Steel in 2020 after it collapsed and the UK government was forced to step in to keep it running. Jingye pledged to invest GBP 1.2 billion in the plant by the end of the decade, although those plans are not thought to have been carried out.
