Tata Steel: Thousands of Port Talbot steel workers at risk of losing their jobs despite deal to save plant

More than 3,000 jobs are at risk at the country's biggest steelworks - with a announcement on the workforce expected to be made on Friday, Sky News understands.

Tata Steel in September confirmed details reported by Sky News that it had secured taxpayer cash to support the Port Talbot plant in South Wales transition to cheaper, greener steel production.

Job losses had been expected as part of the deal.

Today, sources confirmed the steel giant is to press ahead with plans to close blast furnaces at its biggest plant.

The redundancies, to be completed by March next year, will seethree-quarters of the 4,000 staff on site at risk of losing their jobs, the PA news agency has said.

Sky News understands an announcement about the closure will not be made today, because staff are yet to be informed.

The workforce currently accounts for 12% of the coastal town's entire population and many had expressed concerns for their families' futures when it emerged that big job losses were expected.

Unions met the company on Thursday after presenting alternative proposals aimed at saving jobs but PA sources said Tata rejected the plan.

A Treasury aid package, worth £500m, will be handed over to support sacked staff and the decarbonisation effort in return for an investment commitment from Tata of around £700m.

India-based Tata will replace the two blast furnaces at the plant with electric arc furnaces under the plan to reduce emissions and costs.

Unions are expected to consult their members on how to respond to any potential job losses, with industrial action possible.

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The National Trade Union Steel Coordinating Committee said in a statement: "The steel unions met today with a senior Tata Steel delegation led by Koushik Chatterjee, and the company responded to the multi-union plan laying out an alternative decarbonisation strategy for Tata Steel UK.

"We will be communicating the outcomes of the meeting to our members in the first instance, as is right and proper, and we will make a further more detailed public statement in due course."

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds said: "The UK Conservative government, through their inability to support investment into UK steel, has failed towns like Port Talbot across the country."

Stephen Kinnock, Labour MP for Aberavon, home of the Port Talbot steelworks, said: "Global demand for steel is actually growing.

"But by pursuing a narrow electric arc furnace-only model, Tata Steel will be unable to seize the commercial opportunities of the future, while at the same time leaving Britain more dependent on imported steel from countries whose governments won't always have Britain's best interests at heart."

The viability of domestic steel production has been hampered over many years by high UK energy prices, which have damaged competitiveness.

To that end, the GMB union has claimed that up to 2,000 jobs at British Steel's Scunthorpe plant are also under imminent threat.

The Chinese-owned company cut 7% of its workforce in February.

That was despite continuing government talks with Jingye Group about potential taxpayer aid at the time.