For months now, the communists have called on Tata workers in Port Talbot to occupy the steelworks to save the town.
Some have blamed the steelworkers and the community for the lack of fightback, saying the will for such action isn’t there. But it’s clear from the mood on the ground that it’s the absence of bold leadership that’s led us to this point.
Word on the street
Listening to workers and local residents, you understand how much the steelworks mean to them. In fact, it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t have some kind of connection to the Port Talbot plant.
“Well, I don’t think that it’s Port Talbot without the steel, to be honest with you. What else is there?”
“All my family have been connected to it. And it’s an element of shame. The fact that the blast furnaces are going to go, especially when you think it’s going on my watch, so to speak, for want of a better way to put that.”
“You’ve got youngsters who will have to move away, there is nothing here. There are no high-skilled, good quality jobs for people to go into.”
“It’s unthinkable. This town will see a depression like it’s never ever seen before. It’ll kill South Wales.”
Everything we’ve warned about for months is being expressed by the workers and people of Port Talbot.
Destruction and frustration
The closures will lead to a mass exodus from the town, as workers desperately look for employment. This, in turn, will lead to the destruction of any remaining businesses that serve local residents.
Added to this will be the loss of skills, a loss of pride, and the stripping away of an identity integral to the town for over seven decades.
The people of Port Talbot don’t want their community to be destroyed. And workers don’t want to lose their jobs.
There is anger. There is frustration. And there is no faith in Tata.
“The problem is, the way it’s been handled, and the way the plan has been put forward, there’s no confidence in Tata to deliver anything.”
Unite and strike
We are where we are because the unions and Labour have failed to provide any leadership.
For months, union leaders have sown illusions in backroom deals with the bosses. They have asked members to wait for a Labour government. But Starmer isn’t offering anything different to the Tories – just a bigger payout to Tata!
After much foot-dragging, steel unions are finally beginning to move towards strike action. Even then, there is a feeling that the trade union leaders are just going through the motions.
Results of Unite’s strike ballot were released today, with the union’s 1,500 members at the steelworks decisively voting for industrial action, in defiance of Tata bosses and their threats to withdraw redundancy pay.
But Unite officials have yet to announce strike dates. And the other steel unions are lagging behind, holding back the potential for immediate coordinated action.
GMB started its strike vote last week, on 4 April. And the ballot by Community, a more conservative union representing steelworkers, only began today, and is set to continue until 9 May.
Despite the delays, these votes can and must be a turning point for workers – a line drawn in the sand, and the beginning of a real fightback.
It’ll take an almighty effort to win this struggle. But it begins by winning all these ballots, and building for all-out united strike action, as a platform for an occupation of the steelworks.
Workers hold an enormous potential power in their hands. They just have to rely on themselves and use it.
