Troubled British Steel axes 20,000 jobs

Press, 17 December 1980, Page 8

Troubled British Steel axes 20,000 jobs

j’iNZPA London;’ el British workers’ steell] J unions are meeting this, .1 week to discuss their re-li - sponse to a proposed six-jf month pay freeze and the it axing of at least 20,000 jobs, j i Mr lan MacGregor, their American brought into runlr "(the British Steel Corpora-] ' tion, last week announced 11 “[ loss of 20,000 jobs in a bid i e Lto cut losses, now running l ! 1 1 at more than $4B million a'S -week. J ’ ■' *! Now he is reported to beir ’ i proposing a six-month pay. g ; ; freeze until July. d : i Mr MacGregor has told Jiuriion leaders: ‘‘our coffersjt i are empty.” j* 1 1 The State corporation’s; r y chairman has written tojS I union members appealing for; y i support for his “survival "plan” for B.S.C. “No jobs u I are secure, not even mine,” j' he told the unions. b Mr MacGregor has warned tl I the men that the industry n

will face liquidation if his proposals are turned down. The corporation lost 56975 million between April and September this year and there have been reports that it is likely to show an an-1 nual deficit of about slsoo] million. Mr MacGregor’s plan, which involves cutting jobs and production capacity, has been put to the Industry Secretary (Sir Keith Joseph) who will decide how much more taxpayers’ money will go to support the ailing industry. There have been suggestions this could mean at least an additional $2500 million on top of nearly $2500 million provided this year. , _ The immediate reaction by unions to Mr MacGregor’s job-axing proposals appeared to be one of some relief that they were not as tough as many in the industry had; feared. But in Scunthorpe, where h about 4000 jobs will go out): >f a workforce of 14,00011

union leaders were reported to be “stunned.” And there have been other reports of a “tooth and nail” fight against the cuts in some Welsh plants. The Iron and Steel Trades ! Confederation, the largest {steel union, was reported yesterday to be preparing to go ahead with a new pay claim from January 1. Leaders of the union had been informally discussing a plan to forgo a new' pay rise — but on the condition that Mr MacGregor agreed to a year’s moratorium' on redundancies, the “Guardian” said, Mr William Sirs, general secretary of the 1.5.T.C., said the chairman’s liquidation Warning has been taken very, seriously. >;■ But Mr Sirs commented: “We are very aware that the Industry secretary would find that politically impossible to do.” It would make 390,000 unemployed at the stroke of a pen, he said. Unemployment in Britain is about 2.2 million at present.