Hundreds to lose jobs in Tata Steel’s Welsh plants
18 Jan 2016
With the Tata Group's British steel operations increasingly stressed, hundreds of steel workers are expected to lose their jobs in Tata Steel's Port Talbot facility.
Thousands of industry jobs have already been lost in Scotland and England, with the focus now set to turn to Wales.
Port Talbot Steelworks owner Tata employs 4,000 people at the site and 6,000 in Wales.
A source told BBC that losses in the Wales would be 750 in Port Talbot, following a slump in the price of steel.
Another 300 jobs are expected to be lost at other Tata sites in the UK, including Llanwern in Newport and Trostre in Llanelli, the source said.
Tata Steel Europe, which employs 17,000 in the UK, is in the throes of a wide-scale reorganisation of its business.
It currently puts £200 million a year into the Welsh economy in wages.
Last week, Alan Coombs, the president of the steelworkers' union Community, and chairman of the multi-union group at Port Talbot, said job losses are "inevitable".
He told BBC Wales, "Without doubt there'll be restructuring on the cards - that's if we are in a position to restructure.
"There is concern that we are running out of time."
On Friday, Aberavon MP Stephen Kinnock said the industry needs to restructure in order to weather this storm.
First minister Carwyn Jones has urged the UK government to come forward with a package to help the steel industry with their energy costs.
