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Corus cutting 2,000 UK steel jobs | |
(40 minutes later) | |
Steelmaker Corus is cutting 2,000 more jobs at UK plants including Teesside, Scunthorpe and Rotherham. | |
The company has yet to announce the job losses, but Labour MP Elliott Morley confirmed the news. Unions said the cuts were "devastating". | |
About 500 white-collar jobs will go at Scunthorpe, Mr Morley said, while more than 400 jobs are thought to be at risk on Teesside and 800 in Rotherham. | |
Corus has seen demand for steel fall as the global recession hits the industry. | |
Mr Morley said he was "disappointed" at the level of cuts and added he had told the firm that job cuts should be a last resort. | |
'Real concerns' | 'Real concerns' |
The new UK job cuts would come on top of about 2,500 cut announced in January, says steelmakers' union Community. | |
Corus, a subsidiary of India's Tata Steel, says that it is Europe's second largest steel producer with annual revenues of about £12bn and crude steel production of over 20 million tonnes, primarily in the UK and the Netherlands. | |
The Community union called on the government to intervene saying there was now a battle for the survival of British steelmaking. | The Community union called on the government to intervene saying there was now a battle for the survival of British steelmaking. |
"It's devastating news for our members and their families in steel communities right across the UK," union general secretary Michael Leahy said. | "It's devastating news for our members and their families in steel communities right across the UK," union general secretary Michael Leahy said. |
"We have real concerns for the integrity of the British steel industry - we fear its further erosion could fundamentally undermine UK manufacturing." | |
In January, the firm announced a series of cost-cutting measures, which including mothballing a steel mill in South Wales as well as 3,500 job cuts worldwide, including the 2,500 in the UK. | |
Mr Morley, the MP for Scunthorpe, told the BBC that the job cuts were a "sad day for the town". | |
"It's important to try and minimise any job losses and, to be fair to Corus, they've been trying to do that," he said. | |
"They've learned that if and when the upturn comes, you will struggle without skilled workers. | |
"There has been much more focus on trying to preserve jobs in this recession, and I welcome that. | |
He called for any redundancies to be made on a voluntary basis where possible. |