Corus has announced it will reduce production by 20% to meet the economic downturn caused by the credit crunch.
Your union Community has met with Corus management to discuss this plan and to manage its impact upon Community members.
Community believes that:
‘Corus is not planning to permanently reduce capacity and that there are no plans for redundancies at this time.’
This 20% reduction will take place over the next three months and cut production by roughly 1 million metric tonnes.
However in order to manage this reduction Corus workers will be encouraged workers to take holiday or time off in lieu, prioritise nonproduction projects such as maintenance, schedule training courses, change shift patterns and cut overtime.
Corus and Community will continue discussions in the coming months to develop a long term strategy to address the drop in demand due to the credit crunch.
Rising world steel prices had partially insulated the steel industry. Costs had risen faster in Europe making Great Britain more competitive.
However, as the Credit Crunch took effect, demand for Steel has dropped dramatically.
A major cause for the drop in demand is the construction sector which can no longer attract the finance to begin new projects.
The lack of credit from the banks has also hit investment in other sectors while tighter household budgets have seen car sales plummet.
It is this drop in demand that has prompted Corus to reduce production.
The decision to cut production while retaining capacity has been welcomed term value of the Corus workforce. Community is confident that at this stage Corus are seeking to retain capacity and return to full production when demand returns to previous levels.
It is expected that the credit crunch will develop into a recession.
During such a downturn, the role of the union becomes even more important to safeguard your position.
Your Community Union will be continuing discussion with Corus management and with Government throughout this financial crisis.
When meeting with Government Ministers, Community will discuss how the credit crunch has affected our members at work, but also how the credit crunch has driven up the costs of everyday necessities like petrol and groceries.