NSSN march for nationalisaton of steel industry, Port Talbot, 2.4.16, photo by Ken Smith

NSSN march for nationalisaton of steel industry, Port Talbot, 2.4.16, photo by Ken Smith   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Workers’ action to…

Nationalise steel

March, strike, occupy

Port Talbot steelworks, photo by Grubb (Creative Commons)

Port Talbot steelworks, photo by Grubb (Creative Commons)   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

15,000 steel jobs are on the line, but the call to nationalise Tata is growing louder and the political pressure on Cameron to act is building!

In recent days, politicians of all the establishment parties in Cardiff and London are moving their positions, but we have to keep the heat on them. On 2 April hundreds came on a ‘Nationalise Tata’ demonstration in Port Talbot organised by the trade union rank and file National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN).

On 4 April, NSSN national chair and Socialist Party member Rob Williams spoke at a lobby of the specially recalled Welsh Assembly to discuss the steel crisis:

“We marched around the simple demand that steel be nationalised to keep the furnaces firing in Port Talbot and around the UK. That is the only solution. Not to bribe another vulture capitalist to asset strip the company.

Tata reckon the business is losing £1 million a day. But that’s just half what Osborne gave to the super-rich in tax cuts in the budget. It’s nothing when you consider the social costs of the steelworks closing.

Assembly members should vote through a motion calling on Westminster to immediately nationalise Tata.

Labour Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones seems to be coming round to nationalisation, on a temporary basis. But the industry should be permanently nationalised along with the other privatised industries like rail and energy.

We need a real socialist economic strategy. As we protest here, Tata union reps are meeting in London. Let’s give them the confidence to take the action that is necessary to keep the furnaces firing, to keep the steelworks going, to keep the communities alive!”

Rob Williams, NSSN, speaking, Port Talbot, 2.4.16, photo by Ken Smith

Rob Williams, NSSN, speaking, Port Talbot, 2.4.16, photo by Ken Smith   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)