Tata Steel has confirmed 2,800 job losses by closing two blast furnaces at its Port Talbot plant in South Wales.
The Indian-owned steel giant will axe 2,500 roles in the next 18 months and an additional 300 by 2027.
The UK government had assured up to £500 million to support greener steel production.
But Tata deems it “not feasible or affordable” to adopt the plan proposed by the GMB and community unions.
This decision, affecting 75 percent of the plant’s workforce, marks a significant blow to the UK’s largest steelworks.
The GMB labelled the job losses as a “crushing blow” to Port Talbot and UK manufacturing.
Senior Labour MP Stephen Kinnock said the closure leaves Britain as the “only G20 country that can’t make virgin primary steel”.
He described the situation as “deeply frustrating and unnecessary”.
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The move raises concerns about the country’s reliance on steel imports from countries like India, Russia, and China until the expected completion of a replacement electric arc furnace in 2027.
The unions presented a multi-union plan that offered a longer transition timeline toward greener steelmaking without compulsory redundancies.
However, Tata rejected the alternative, leading to criticism from the GMB and Community unions.
“Only the Tories could spend £500m of taxpayers’ money to make thousands of British workers redundant”
They accused Unite of undermining the plan and expressed disappointment in Tata and the UK government for pursuing what they deemed the “cheapest” rather than the “best” plan for the industry.
Labour’s shadow business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, criticized the government’s £500 million funding package.
He said: “Only the Tories could spend £500m of taxpayers’ money to make thousands of British workers redundant.”
Rishi Sunak defended the government’s commitment to British steelmaking, emphasizing that without intervention, the entire plant could face closure, resulting in 8,000 job losses.
Mr Kinnock, Labour MP for Aberavon, home of the Port Talbot steelworks, said the losses will be “utterly devastating”.
He said: “There isn’t a single household in my Aberavon constituency that isn’t connected to the steelworks in some way.”
