‘SAVE Our Steel!’ shouted over one thousand steel workers as they marched through central London from the Embankment to Parliament yesterday afternoon.
They were joined by TUC leader Frances O’Grady and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as well as the leaders of the Unite and Community unions. As marchers assembled at the Embankment, Bob Ridgow from Worksop, said: ‘We work for Kiveton Park Steel. We take the steel off Tata and make it into bars. We want to keep our jobs if at all possible.
‘If we could get nationalisation it would be a good thing. We have been struggling for at least five or six years. We have had short-time working and three-day weeks over that time. It never seemed to have picked up. What we need is socialism.’
Andy Heathcote, from Rotherham, added: ‘We are here fighting for our jobs. We’d just like a level playing field. Closing our plant would kill our community. We have to keep building awareness – fight for better energy costs. I’d be in favour of an occupation to stop the closure. I’d love renationalisation. The unions should fight for that. What they bailed the bankers out with would keep steel going for another generation. I’m for socialism, why not?’
Unite member Russell Prince, from Shotton in north Wales, said: ‘We’re trying to keep the struggle going, keep it in the public eye. Shotton is a profitable site and I can’t see why it should close. 800 jobs are at stake at our plant and we don’t want to see the whole industry lost in the country. It’s not just about us, it’s about the future. I’d be in favour of an occupation.’
Emilia Bartlett, also from Shotton, said: ‘I’m an administrator for occupational health. It’s a dangerous industry so safety is paramount. We are here on the march to make the government aware of the importance of the steel industry. We want to impress it about how many families would be impacted by the closure.’
Port Talbot Unite member Jordon Davies, said: ‘The situation is dire. We must make sure we keep the steel industry in the UK. If they close Port Talbot, for the local community it will be devastating. I’d support a management buy-out.’
Port Talbot Unite rep Jason Wyatt added: ‘The government need to step up to the mark and fight for the steel industry in the UK. They need to do something to ensure its survival. We have to continue fighting and putting pressure on the government to support us.’
Retired steelworker Mike Rivers said: ‘I worked for 20 years in the mines and they shut them. But you could move into steel after that. If the steelworks closes there will be nowhere to go. £141 billion went into RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland} to keep it up. If we had that money it would keep us going for 123 years. All the unions are asking for is a level playing field where energy costs are the same as anywhere.’
Unite rep Darren Webster, from Speciality Steels, south Yorkshire, told News Line: ‘Renationalising wouldn’t be a bad idea, but that means investing in the industry and bringing it back up to a decent standard.
‘I’d support an occupation to defend every job. The unions should be fighting for that. We joined the union to defend our jobs. We want to be able to carry on as we are, producing world quality steel, without any reductions in our terms and conditions. I’d support a general strike to at least make the government sit up and realise there’s feelings across the country. We should take action with the doctors, all stand together.’
