Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/579/7282
From The Socialist newspaper, 13 May 2009
Corus jobs slaughter - fight the closure
NEWS THAT steel maker Corus is set to close its Redcar plant has sent shockwaves throughout Teesside.
Elaine Brunskill
The proposed 'mothballing' of Corus is being blamed on the withdrawal of a ten-year contract by an international consortium, which was set to run until at least 2014.
It is estimated that Corus accounts for 20% of work in Redcar. Alongside the 2,000 job losses at the plant, around 1,000 workers in the supply chain will also face redundancy.
Corus was formed in 1999 by the merger of privatised British Steel and the Dutch Hoogovens steel company. In 2006 Corus was taken over by the Indian-owned Tata Steel conglomerate. The job losses at Redcar are thought to be in addition to the 2,500 cuts Tata was already planning across its UK operations.
On the local news Corus management have been quick to point the finger of blame at the international consortium. Certainly the ease with which such profit-hungry companies can renege on contractual agreements is disgraceful. Although it seems a legal challenge will be made against the consortium, the outcome from such a move could take years, by which time the site would no longer be viable.
However, blame must also be shouldered by the Tata group which made £2.8 billion profit last year (2007-08), handing shareholders a 22% increase in dividends. Corus workers should put pressure on their unions to demand the books are opened - where have all the super profits of the boom years gone?
Mandelson, New Labour's business secretary, is reported in the Financial Times as pledging that: "The government stands ready to do what it can to support the company." Corus workers at the Redcar plant should not put any faith into arch-privateer Mandelson saving the day for them. If the plant is temporarily unviable as a result of the economic downturn, rather than the plant being mothballed (which in reality would lead to permanent closure as it would be impossible to retain the site and skills of the workforce), unions should fight for the plant to be nationalised and put under democratic workers' control with no compensation for fat cat bosses.
In Britain, workers facing job losses and worsening conditions are looking towards the Visteon workers whose determined action has forced the employers to concede an enhanced payments package.
Construction workers in Redcar have already flexed their industrial muscles when they joined the Lindsey Oil Refinery protests. Faced with redundancies Corus workers' only real option for a decent future will be to take militant action against callous employers.
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In The Socialist 13 May 2009:
Thieving MPs
MPs live it up at our expense !
Socialist Party editorial
Sweep away the thieves and their system
Socialist Party news and analysis
Corus jobs slaughter - fight the closure
Linamar and Visteon
Linamar sack Swansea trade union leader
A victory at Linamar would be a victory for all workers
Visteon workers discuss socialism
Socialist Party election campaign
No2EU - Yes to Democracy campaign news
Youth fight for jobs
Youth Fight for Jobs Launch conference
International socialist news and analysis
Imperialism sucked deeper into Afghan quagmire
Socialist Party workplace news
Defending jobs and conditions at the Olympics site
Defending jobs and conditions at Fiddlers Ferry
Wales TUC: For trade union democracy and for trade union rights!
PCS conference: A fighting union that defends its members
NSSN - fight the bosses' offensive
NSSN Conference: Saturday 27 June
Marxist analysis: history
Education
Save our schools Weston Favell, Northampton
Lewisham Bridge primary school
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