Youth Fight for Jobs today have been out campaigning in Teesside against the closure of the Steel Makers Factory Crous which will result in 1,700 jobs cuts.
There was an excellent response form the public with hundreds signing the petition and many wanting to get involved in the campaign against the closure.
Some Corus workers who we came across told us that the first time they heard that the plant was closing was from the media, not from the employers themselves.
Paul Phillips, 21, Regional Organiser of Youth Fight for Jobs said:
“It is obvious that this government is not serious about safe guarding jobs. They are only interested in safeguarding the rich bankers and their large pay packets.
This is a devastating blow not just to workers in Teesside but to the whole of the country. Yet non of the three major parties have come out in support of these workers showing that non of them represent workers in this country.”
Hannah Walter, 24, Teesside, Unison NEC (personal capacity) said:
“The news that 1700 jobs will be lost at Corus on Teesside is a devastating blow for local people.
For youth in particular, with a 20% unemployment rate, this represents the destruction of more secure and well paid jobs on Teesside.
The government has paid £850bn to bail out the banks – but they cry ‘poverty’ when it comes to supporting ordinary working people.
The workers should take up the example of the Vestas workers down the Isle of Wight and occupy the site demanding that it is nationalised, not like the banks but under democratic control of workers and the local community.
This would give a huge boost to local people and would probably be cheaper than the cost of supporting these families on benefits when they’re thrown out of work.”
