A British trade body Community Union has threatened to design its proposed industrial action against the Tatas-owned Corus over its decision to begin partial closure of Teesside Cast Products (TCP) in such a fashion that it causes maximum damage to the company with minimum damage to the workforce.
"As a modern union we will be seeking to make surgical strikes that will cause maximum damage to Tata Corus and minimum damage to our members," Community Union General Secretary Michael J Leahy said in an e-mailed statement.
Earlier, Corus started the the process of mothballing some of the mills of its TCP plant in England on Friday, a move that will render 1,600 workers jobless.
"Make no mistake; calling this mothballing is simply sugar coating a closure. A redundancy from a mothballed plant is the same as a redundancy from a closed plant. Community believes that this charade of mothballing is simply an attempt to profit from Teesside’ carbon credits. By selling on these carbon credits, Tata Corus is picking the pockets of the Teesside workforce," Leahy added.
The Union said it will be giving its members the opportunity to ballot for industrial action in support of Teesside.
Accusing Tata Cours of walking away from Teesside despite a number of offers of revival, the Union added it will not give up on steel-making on Teesside as the plant is a strategic resource and the foundation for a rejuvenated British manufacturing industry.
