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Community Union - the Union for Corus is fighting to Save Our Steel on Teesside. Steel making has been at the heart of Teesside for over a hundred years.
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Union and MPs delegation say SSI “would make a good fit for TCP”
A delegation of unions representing employees from Corus’ Teesside Cast Products (TCP) plant in Redcar and two local MPs have returned to the UK today from a four-day visit to the Thai steel company SSI in Thailand, who are rumoured to be interested in buying the TCP plant, which Corus and parent company Tata have said TCP is surplus to requirements. The delegation say that “SSI is an impressive and very credible company” whose rolling mill operation “would make a good fit with TCP if it is true that they are interested in buying it”.
The delegation was led by Michael Leahy OBE, General Secretary of Community, the main UK steelworkers union, and also contained Tom Blenkinsop, Labour MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, Ian Swales, Liberal Democrat MP for Redcar, Keith Hazlewood, GMB National Secretary for the Steel Industry, Terry Pye, Unite National Officer for the Steel Industry and Geoff Waterfield, the senior Teesside union representative of the TCP workforce.
Speaking on behalf of the delegation Michael Leahy said:
“SSI is a very impressive company with very a modern first-class hot rolling mill which produces strip steel for South East Asia from slab bought on the open market. It was clear to us from our visit that SSI’s rolling milling would make a very good fit with TCP if it is true that they are interested in buying it.
“We didn’t ask SSI if they were in talks with Corus or parent company Tata, because we don’t think that it would be right to put them on the spot. It is Corus and Tata who have the responsibility to let the TCP workforce and their union representatives – and the people of Teesside – know what is going on.
“We understand the need for commercial confidentiality, but what we need to see is a degree of urgency to find a buyer before the plant condition deteriorates beyond repair. There also is a need for proper information and communication about the current state of play from Corus and Tata. None of this is happening as far as we are concerned. That is why we decided we had a responsibly to check out SSI. We wanted to satisfy ourselves that SSI were a serious and professional company and also assess if they would make a good custodian of the TCP plant that Corus and Tata have said they want to sell. It was clear to us from our visit that they easily meet both of these criteria.”
Geoff Waterfield, Chair of the Teesside Multi-Union Committee, said:
“The TCP workforce – those still in jobs and the thousands of employees and contractors who were made redundant when Corus Mothballed the plant in February – haven’t a clue what is going on because Corus and Tata aren’t telling us anything. We know that SSI visited the plant a few weeks back and were there again last week because we saw them. However whether they are in talks to buy it or not is something that Corus won’t tell us.
“What I can say now, and will be saying when I get back to Teesside and meet with my colleagues, is that SSI is an impressive outfit with a strong demand for slab who I think we could do business with.”
Ian Swales MP said:
“The future of TCP is the single biggest issue affecting Teesside and my constituency and I was happy to accept the invitation from its unions to travel with them to meet SSI. I don’t know what stage they may or may not be at with any talks with Corus and Tata, but I can now say that they are a serious and professional outfit with ambitious growth plans and a strong and growing demand for high quality slab like that produced by TCP – in fact they were taking 50% of TCP’s output until Corus mothballed it. I will do everything I can to work in partnership with my fellow Teesside MPs of all parties, the unions representing the workforce and the UK Government to ensure that steel making is restarted at TCP.
Tom Blenkinsop MP added:
“Everyone on Teesside is united by the fact that we want to see steelmaking restarted at TCP. Hundreds of my constituents – including people I have known all my life – lost their jobs when Corus mothballed the plant and thousands more are still at risk if Corus don’t sell it. I was impressed by SSI’s plans for their business and it is clear that they have a demand for the slab that TCP can produce. Corus and Tata need to come clean on where they are at in talks with any potential purchaser and how soon they hope to achieve a sale. Time isn’t on our side – a sale needs to happen quickly if it is to happen at all. Tata says that their reputation as a responsible company is their number one priority and motivating factor. Now they have an opportunity to live up to those words.”