Protesters demand action to save UK steel jobs

Workers from the UK, Belgium and France will demonstrate outside an emergency meeting of the EU council of ministers.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid and his European counterparts will be pressed to help stop the dumping of cheap Chinese steel, one of the issues which has been blamed by companies that have announced thousands of job losses in recent weeks. Unite national officer Harish Patel said: “Hiding behind the EU as an excuse to do nothing will not wash with the tens of thousands of workers whose livelihoods depend on steelmaking in the UK.

“The Business Secretary needs to secure urgent action from today’s meeting to tackle the dumping of cheap Chinese steel and high energy costs.

“Nothing should be off the table, including a refusal to grant China market economy status while it fails to abide by EU rules on fair trade.

“Sajid Javid also needs to use the opportunity to learn from his counterparts in countries such as Germany and Italy and follow their lead in developing an industrial strategy with steel at its heart.

“Anything less and the continued failure by ministers to urgently intervene to support UK steel will push the crisis hit industry into meltdown.”

Unite is calling on the Government to stop the dumping of cheap Chinese steel.

A Business Department spokesman said yesterday: “The Secretary of State requested Monday’s meeting of the Competitiveness Council to put the difficulties felt by the steel industry both at home in the UK and across the continent high up on the European agenda.”