Yahoo Finance Tata Steel Outlines Port Talbot Plant Job Cuts
Tata Steel (BSE: TATASTEEL.BO - news) workers at the company's Port Talbot plant have begun to learn where the axe will fall as the company outlines more than 700 job cuts.
Sky News understands that the firm is proposing a total reduction of 726 from the 4,000-strong workforce at the South Wales plant.
Meetings with employees have been taking place to set out the plans though individuals were unlikely to have been told their specific circumstances yet, according to Sky (LSE: BSY.L - news) sources.
Proposals seen by Sky News show that of the total number of cuts, 332 will come from the "blue collar" part of the workforce, or 13% of that part of the staff. There are expected to be 394 reductions among "white collar" employees, or 26%.
It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) marks the latest stage in a painful process after Tata said last week that it was to cut more than 1,000 jobs including those at Port Talbot.
Tata previously cut 1,200 jobs at its sites in Scunthorpe and Lanarkshire in October. The UK steel sector is seeing large job losses as it buckles under pressure from cheap Chinese imports. The Government's response to the crisis has been criticised by MPs.
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Port Talbot is Britain's biggest steelworks, in terms of both workforce and output. Many contractors and service firms rely on the plant, so the cuts will have a knock-on effect across South Wales and beyond.
Tony Price, 58, has worked on the site for more than 30 years. So too did his father and grandfather. Mr Price has been told he will learn about his future on Tuesday morning. His department has been told 44 jobs from 450 must be lost.
"It is disappointing. You have still got a mortgage, you have got commitments," he said.
"There is the little luxuries in life you still owe for now, no matter how old you are. Possibly, there will be a lot of people in a worse position than myself.
"To say go and get another job is not so easy here with another 800 people looking for the same job. It's going to be a massive blow to this area for years to come."
