Unite meets Corus as Teeside workers prepare to march for jobs
15th May 2009
Union leaders from Unite will meet with steel firm Corus in
London today (Friday, May 15th) to urge the company to do
everything possible to save jobs at the company's Teesside
plant.
Hundreds of workers from the plant will travel to Birmingham on
Saturday to join Unite's national March for Jobs, part of the
union's campaign to persuade the government to make protecting jobs
the number one priority during the recession.
The plant is currently under threat because a consortium has
pulled out of a ten year agreement to buy 78 percent of the plant's
production, threatening 2,000 jobs.
While the union understands that it is the consortium's broken
commitment which has put the Teesside plant at risk, Unite will
remind Corus at today's meeting that the affected workers are its
employees and it is Corus' duty to do everything possible to
prevent Teesside from becoming a relic.
The company is preparing to ask employees at other plants to
support a number of cost-saving measures. However, Unite will tell
Corus that the union's support for these proposals is contingent on
the company doing all it can to protect jobs at Teesside.
Unite's national officer for the steel industry, Terry Pye,
said: "The decision of a consortium to pull out of a long-standing
deal to buy steel from Teesside is outrageous but the employees
under threat are Corus employees. It is now down to the company to
prevent this vital plant from becoming a relic.
"Hundreds of Teesside workers and their families will join
Unite's March for Jobs on Saturday in Birmingham. They are now
fighting to have a future which is why, along with thousands of
others, they will be making it loud and clear that they want the
government to do everything possible to protect jobs during the
recession."
Terry Pye yesterday met with business secretary Lord Mandelson
at the government's steel summit where the secretary of state made
it clear that he wanted to ensure that the Teesside plant had a
future.
ENDS
Contact: Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315
Coaches bringing the Corus workers to the Birmingham march will
depart from Steel House, Trunk Road, Redcar at 6.45am. The media
are welcome to photograph and interview members travelling on the
buses.
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