hpoolsteve

iTrader: (4)

They are to announce 1500 job cuts in Scunthorpe, Redcar and teeside.
I currently work for TATA in Hartlepool. Fingers crossed.

This is what happens when you privatise companies.

zip106

Don't Alcazar and COB work at the Scunny plant?
Hope they're not affected if they do.

The Zohan

how many jobs being lost at plants elsewhere in the world i wonder - another British company asset stripped and in the process of being fecked over...

hpoolsteve

iTrader: (4)

Could not agree more Zohan. Should never have been sold. Should have stayed as British Steel

Coffin Dodger

Why should we, the tax payers, subsidise a loss making & inefficient business? If TATA thought they could make a go of it then good luck to them, if not then the inevitable happens Heavy industry is looking to be a distant memory for this country.

hpoolsteve

iTrader: (4)

Us as the tax payer still manager to keep the millions on the sick and benefits but for some reason that is tolerated. I do see your point about the heavy industry being a distant memory, In the north thats all we really have..

The Zohan

Us as the tax payer still sending billions in aid to countries around the world, money we have to borrow! nearly 1 Bn. to India alone since 2008 - thank Brown for that!

TATA being Indian owned - we send: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/ge...Moon_missions/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12607537
"India spends £36bn a year on defence and £750m a year on its space programme," he says. "What's more, India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. It's completely unjustifiable, especially at this time."
Perhaps india should look after and feeds its poor staving and defenceless people first then before squandering money on the above!

Coffin Dodger

Not exactly over the moon about my tax payments subsidising dole bludgers either I suppose in that respect HM Treasury could fund a loss making business and recoup some of that loss by reducing the spend on benefits. In fact that's not a bad idea, lets re-open the coal mines etc. and send the layabouts down there to do a decent days work

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

As long as heavy industry keep migrating to China, the demand for steel processing in the UK will always be on the decrease.

Where I live, that steel was often used to make cars, motorbikes, chains, anchors, amongst various other types of forgings and industrial manufacture/assembly.

Very little of that left here.

Regardless of who owns what; if they aren't making money, cuts will be made and operations moved elsewhere or shut down; We are too reliant on our (demising) home markets and not exporting more than we import....we need to be doing the reverse; Like Germany, for example.

hpoolsteve

iTrader: (4)

I was only reading the other day that TATA are planning on opening a new coal mine in port talbot where it produces the steel plate and coils.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Privatise the NHS first though;

Just think of the NHS bill for all the injuries and health damage caused by working conditions (coal dust, accidents, etc).

Gotta think ahead when dealing with the workshy layabouts to make sure they don't find a way to wriggle out of working.

hpoolsteve

iTrader: (4)

Well we here at the 20" mill in Hartlepool have managed to escape this round of redundencies. Fell bad for the people that are in scunthorpe. Thats alot of jobs to go. Hope no one from this site is directly affected

dpb

Tata is short for goodbye ?

Horrible but what can you do , people abroad will accept poorer lifestyles

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Jeff doesn't, but his eldest is a contractor at one of the Coke Ovens. I'm a Tata guy (2nd year apprentice) and have been all but assured my job. The Indians wouldn't be spending a serious amount of wedge (training and salaries) on us (150 in the last 2 years) if they weren't keeping us. There's plenty of contractors who could go (old boys) and plenty of older Tata boys (in their 50's) who would probably jump at the chance for redundancy and a phat pension. Luckily I'm at one of the Coke Ovens too and without coke being produced there is no steel making process

Hoping Jeffs lad is safe

From the Scunny Telegraph to give perspective on this... http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/ta...l/article.html

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Yep, we had a meeting on Tuesday with one of the Union head honcho's about this as well as our 3.5% payrise kicking in (can't be that hard up?) Supposedly lots of the grey stuff to be mined and will create lots of jobs. Also a biiiig order for tyre coil is bumping up profits in the Scunny Rod mill. BBM is one of the poorest performing sites on the works and there are 4 blast furnaces running currently.

speye91

The Conservative Government sadly started the demise in British Industry's in the 80's. Steel, Coal, Shipbuilding are mostly a thing of the past now.

Pleased your safe for now Andy and Steve but you will always be wondering if there is a future in your jobs.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Everyone who was actually THINKING knew what would happen when we sold to an Indian company.
One of the Sheffield Stainless plants has already been shut, the machinery taken to.............India.

This country is fekked.

Hanley

I'm from Hartlepool, although have lived in Liverpool for 13 years now, but my bro works in the Hartlepool plant!!

hpoolsteve

iTrader: (4)

Which plant it he at up here? The 42" has to lose 71 employees.

DannyM

We got told a fair few will be saved with cross matching into the 20" Mill today.

(thats the 42/84 Mill lads)

hpoolsteve

iTrader: (4)

I hope thats the case mate.

richie001

iTrader: (3)

I got made redundant by Corus/Tata just over a year ago and hearing of more doesn't surprise me.

Hanley

Not sure to be honest!!!

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

While it's easy for fans of the various governments of the last 30 years to blame cheaper labour abroad, decreasing domestic markets, foreign demand etc. the truth lies in the fact that no government in this country for the last 30 years has wanted to see the UK as a manufacturing nation.

It started with Thatcher and continued under Blair/Brown and now will more than lilely continue under Cameron.

The reason it doesn't wash as an excuse is simple of we look at our German cousins.They seem able to have a thriving manufacturing sector despite all this foreign competition.

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

It does not help that we are operating under the pretence of free trade when in fact our trading partners in the East are doing everything in their power to manipulate things in their favour.

hodgy0_2

the ultimate irony is that the british re-built the german economy (with US money but the structure by the British) in the late 40,s and 50,s -- VW was run by the British army for a time (and actually named VW by the british army)

they have a high quality, high skill economy, with massive state investment in education


we have a low quality, low skill, two tier economy --- and before you know it we will be a failed state

tony de wonderful

I fear it will go that way.

We can never compete of cheap labour, but we have allowed unrestricted immigration and the large scale immigration of social groups who cause lots of trouble and will for generations.

To what end I'm not sure, just to add to the tills in consumer retail? Or to boost house prices?

Whatever way you looks at it, it was supreme folly.

I'm sure the UK is closer to massive social problems that it has been for centuries.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

I almost admire the way you have turned this discussion towards blaming the immigrants. It tales some skill that

GlesgaKiss

Unfortunately this is what happens when you subsidise everyone by borrowing on their behalf. Why do we need to make steel? There's no point, the Chinese slaves will do it for us, as long as they lend us the money to buy it from them. Meanwhile we've got so many regulations and taxes in place that no one in their right mind would invest here. Want to make a profit, to produce something that you can then trade with others? Why, that's greedy and evil don't you know.

And by the way, subsidising the steelworks would be even worse. What's the point?

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Had the official company memo today in the post with ironically, my wageslip

Just says that there will be discussions with regards to those who will be affected - I assume that's 100% of the staff then. IMHO some of the older boyos should be offered early retirement, half the management can go (too many chiefs) and there are a lot of useless contractors just claiming a wage for no work (this is NOT aimed at Jeffs lad!).

A little worried yeah, that's natural but I'm not seeing the point in crying into my pillow just yet. I really struggle to see the benefits to the company of getting rid of new blood that must cost a fortune to train up. Job cuts are needed, we know that here, but in a few years if things recover, many of the guys now will be 55-60+ with a huge age gap missing from the workforce. It would then IMHO cost them a lot more in bringing contractors/agency staff in to cover this aged black hole.