Steel industry crisis: Tata workers marching in London today
Two dozen Black Country Tata workers will join hundreds of their colleagues in London today for a march through central London to keep up pressure on the Government and the Indian steel giant to help save thousands of threatened UK jobs.
The marchers will be urging the Government to ensure a 'responsible' sale of Tata Steel's UK business and also calling for an industrial strategy to support the whole steel industry in the future.
The march comes the same day as Tata's board of directors meet in Mumbai to discuss the seven bids submitted on Monday to buy the company's British business.
Indian owned Tata revealed earlier this year it was looking to sell or close its loss-making UK arm, which employs 11,000 including around 750 in the Black Country.
Today workers from Tata steel workers in Wednesfield, Wednesbury, Walsall and Brierley Hill have travelled down by coach to join other workers from steel companies and sites across the UK for the march.
Organised by the unions Community, GMB and Unite, the march will start from the Embankment, down Whitehall, past Downing Street, before finishing at Millbank, just after the Houses of Parliament.
Community's general secretary, Roy Rickhuss said: "For months, the 'Save Our Steel' campaign has engaged hundreds of thousands of people across the UK. This march will bring steelworkers to London to focus all our attention on delivering a clear message to government: save our jobs, support our communities and deliver the fantastic future for British steelmaking we know it can have."
Meanwhile Business Secretary Sajid Javid has travelled to Mumbai ahead of today's board meeting, to reinforce the Government's support for Tata's assets, including taking a stake of up to 25 per cent to smooth the sale process.
Among the bidders for Tata's UK business is Liberty House, owned by the Gupta family, which stepped in to salvage collapsed Black Country manufacturing group Caparo last year. Liberty is in talks to work with another bidder, Excalibur, the management buyout team led by senior Tata Steel executives from South Wales.
