image source, Owen Midwinter
- Author, Paul Heaney
- Role, BBC Wales is investigating
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Owen Midwinter thought he had the “job of a lifetime” when he started a five-year apprenticeship at Tata Steel in Port Talbot.
But after 18 months, that certainty has been replaced by uncertainty – and the 23-year-old and his girlfriend may have to put their plans to start a family on hold.
New analysis for the BBC suggests his city could lose more than £200m in wages due to steel job cuts.
Professor Calvin Jones, its author, said it was the “end of an era” for British steel, similar to the coal mine closures of the 1980s.
Speaking about the job loss announcement, Mr Midwinter said: “Everyone in the room went quiet… wives and girlfriends were ringing bells, one of the boys had to go for a walk to clear his head.
“My old man has been here for years and years, my grandfather is here and it was a proud moment for me. But now it’s very grim, a lot of sad faces, a lot of depression.”
His girlfriend Cori said: “If Owen loses his job it will put the house in jeopardy, we want to start a family soon but it will put everything in jeopardy until we know.”
Town of Steel – BBC Wales investigates
Tata said it needed to “act now” to protect the future of the business by closing blast furnaces and switching to greener ways of making steel that require fewer people.
Some experts say a lack of clear strategy from successive UK governments is behind job cuts in a well-paying industry that may never be replaced.
However, it is not only steel workers who are insecure.
A stone’s throw from the Port Talbot factory that dominates the skyline of this part of the south Wales coast, Mandie Pugh runs a catering business based on a tradesman’s shop.
“I’ve been here 35 years, a long time, and I’m too young to retire,” she said.
“Contractors, small businesses, from greengrocers to window cleaners, people will no longer be able to afford as much.
“My husband works in a steel mill, my son is in the blast furnace control room so he’s out of work, he recently had a baby, he and his partner are looking for a house to put the kibosh on. that.
It suggests that around 2,000 jobs lost directly at Tata plants in Wales could be joined by a further 3,000 roles dependent on the Tata business.
But he said the most “alarming” figures were about the impact on wages in Port Talbot.
The economics professor estimated that job losses at Tata would cause a 10% drop in the city’s gross income – £133m a year.
If half the supply companies were based locally, he estimated a drop in revenue of 15% – more than £200m.
“That’s £200 million a year out of the local economy until these people find a new job or find another job.
“So I guess the question will be, what happens instead?
“We haven’t had an industrial strategy worthy of the name for 40 years… we don’t seem to know where we want to go industrially, so it’s no surprise you’re not going to get there.
“I think more generally, like the miners’ strikes and after, it was the end of an era for the valley, this is the end of an era for industrial south Wales.”
“It’s heartbreaking to see any kind of job loss, but on this scale it’s really quite shocking … the industry is crying out for a clear plan.”
Jess Ralston investigated how countries across Europe are supporting the steel industry to modernize and reduce carbon emissions.
“The new economic reality is that the rest of the world is moving towards greener solutions, greener steel.”
She said Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands were “pulling out feelers” for investment, but the UK was “standing back and waiting for the investment to come to them”.
“We only have one or two green steel projects planned, Europe has around 40 and it’s not just Europe, China, the US, the rest of the world is also looking at the future of steel and the UK can.” I really don’t allow myself to stand still.”
Rajesh Nair, chief executive of Tata Steel UK, said he knew how “painful” the move would be after 35 years in the industry.
“We’re hemorrhaging cash and it’s not because of a lack of effort from people or the amount of money we’ve been spending, it’s simply because we have a set of assets that are at the end of their lives.
“Today, we are at a crossroads as a company… it’s now or never.”
Stuart Phillips, 43, has two daughters, aged three and 18, and a mortgage.
“I’m probably looking for another 15 years of work and the problem I have is that Tata Steel is all I’ve ever known.
“It’s pretty devastating.
image source, Stuart Phillips
Imported steel will still be rolled and if a £500m deal is signed with the current Tory government, a new electric arc furnace will be built on the site, providing some jobs.
Labor said it would offer a better deal, without giving details, and Plaid Cymru argued that Tata’s Port Talbot plant should be nationalized to support a “just transition” to “green steel”.
The Liberal Democrats want a long-term vision for the steel industry, while the Reform Party said there was a risk the steelworks would fall victim to “pure vanity projects”.
The Green Party has called for a green industrial strategy to create sustainable, green jobs.
Ms Ralston said it was the decisions of politicians – past, present and future – that determined the future of the industry.
“At the end of the day, Tata is a multinational…if the UK doesn’t have a very good investment environment, they don’t need to put it here.”