Yet more agony for North steel workers

Jun 26 2009 The Journal and Evening Gazette

STEEL company Corus plans to axe more than 400 jobs on Teesside and another 1,500 at other sites across the UK after a big slump in orders.

The announcement come weeks after the Anglo-Dutch group said it was likely to shut its Teesside Cast Products business in Redcar with the loss of 2,000 jobs.

Unions described as devastating the plans to slash the workforce of the long products division, which supplies steel to the construction industry, now badly hit by the recession.

Corus said 150 of the 450 workers at its plant in Lackenby near Redcar would go, as would 156 of its 640 workers in Hartlepool, 113 of 375 workers in Skinningrove, East Cleveland, and nine of its 25 staff in Darlington.

The worst-hit plants nationwide would be in Rotherham in South Yorkshire and Stocksbridge near Sheffield and 123 jobs will be cut in the Netherlands.

There will be about 1,000 workers left in Teesside’s steel industry, which employed 25,000 people 25 years ago.

Chief executive Kirby Adams said: “We understand the difficulties these job losses are likely to cause our employees and their families.

“Any recovery in Europe appears to be some time off, so it is vital that we take this proportionate and responsible action now. We have to achieve long-term, sustainable competitiveness in a global and over-supplied steel market.”

Corus, owned by Indian group Tata, said earlier this year that it was axing more than 10% of its UK workforce in cutting 3,500 jobs worldwide, including 2,500 in this country.