Steel unions meet over Corus cuts

Corus said it would seek voluntary redundancies wherever possible

Union leaders have held an emergency meeting in Scunthorpe to discuss the plight of hundreds of steel workers facing redundancy in the town.

Steelmaker Corus has made almost 1,000 job cuts in the town since January.

The National Steel Committee, which comprises officials from the GMB, Unite and Community unions met in Scunthorpe on Monday.

Union leaders said they remained unconvinced that the job losses were necessary.

Corus said the cuts were needed as "significant savings" had to be made to secure the plant's future.

Roy Rickhuss, national officer of Community, said there had been an "angry mood" at the meeting.

"We made it clear at the meeting that we have serious concerns for the state of industrial relations with Corus," he said.

"We fear Corus are making permanent cuts to deal with a temporary situation brought on by the recession. We are not convinced the cuts are necessary and today's talks did not change our view."

Last month, Corus announced it was cutting almost 2,000 more jobs at UK plants including Teesside, Scunthorpe and Rotherham.

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