A year ago, Cassius Walker-Hunt worked at the Port Talbot steel plant.
Now he heads his own coffee in the city center, having been dismissed when Tata Steel announced the closure of the high stoves of the factory.
The 28 -year -old told Sky News that the situation faced was “completely singing”.
“They called it for the end of an era, and that was the case. This type of workforce Wales He is now gone, it was not only a company that stops, it was generations of knowledge and generations of workers, “he said.
It has been six months since the last Haut Fourneau de Port Talbot was closed as part of Tata Steel’s transition to greener production.
Tata said her new electric arc oven would 90% reduced CO2 emissions on site and that her Investment of 1.25 billion pounds sterling was “the most important investment made in the British steel industry for decades”.
Discussions are currently underway to Save thousands of jobs in British Steel In the midst of the plans of the Chinese owner of the company, Jingye, to close the stoves of its scunning factory, North Lincolnshire, and to move to a more green form of production.
Sir Keir Starmer said on Friday that the future of British Steel “is at stake” and that “our economic and national security is at stake”.
The government “will adopt emergency legislation in one day” to protect the SCUTHORPE factory, the Prime Minister said.
The commons and the lords will come back to Parliament for a rare Saturday sitting Debate a law aimed at ensuring the future of the site.
Mr. Walker-Hunt now manages his own coffee
Mr. Walker-Hunt was the fourth generation of his family to work in the steel industry of Port Talbot, a tradition now.
“It is something that I will never forget to be honest, being with the boys for the last time and that we all share different things,” he said.
Mr. Walker-Hunt said that if the British government had decided to nationalize British steel, it would be “happy” for the inhabitants of Scanthorpe, but that it would be a “low blow” to Port Talbot.
“Why couldn’t we have it?” Why did you leave us, our fate, we collapsed? Why could we not get this support?
Talbot port
“ Marmot day ‘
Tata Steel announced last January that it reduced 2,800 jobs as part of its transition, most of those of Port Talbot.
Jack Harper had planned to spend his career working at Steelworks in the city.
He worked there as an apprentice from 2022 to September from last year, when he was released.
The 29 -year -old said that watching the current talks in Scanthorpe was “like the marmot day”.
“This is exactly the same process, if not worse. Because the economic situation and the political situation are much worse with the prices. We do not know where we get along,” he said.
Jack Harper worked as an apprentice at the steel factory but is now a union support worker
Harper is now working as a union support worker, helping former steel workers when they are looking for an alternative job.
“It is very rewarding because many people I know have passed through the door and obviously obtained support through us. Ex-collections, friends, so it was really good to help people I really know,” he said.
“The vast majority have been men, I would say that in the thirties to 50 years, men from the family. They have to put food on the table and when the only ticket in the city, the major city ticket left, is now a race to find a job and get back on their feet. ”
Steelworks of Scunthorpe are “a massive part of British industry,” said Harper.
“This is not going well if we import all this from abroad, especially in the current economic situation,” he added.
‘Is worth fighting to’
Plaid Cymru called to the nationalization of Port Talbot Steelworks last year when Tata announced its intention to replace its stoves with an electric arc oven, but these calls were “rejected”.
The party spokesman and party trade, Llinos Medi, said that if the nationalization of the steelworks of Scanthorpe was continuing, the people of Port Talbot “would rightly ask why their work and their community were not worth fighting.”
Liberal-democratic deputy David Chadwick said his voters would ask why the government “enabled” more than 2,000 jobs to reduce to Wales, but “apparently less accepting the destruction that would cause elsewhere”.
The Conservatives underlined their rescue contract of 500 million pounds sterling, which has kept around 25% of the Port Talbot workforce, and called for a commercial solution in Scanthorpe.
Meanwhile, Reform UK supported the implementation of British steel under public property to guarantee the future of industry.
A spokesperson for the British government said that Port Talbot “has always been and will always be a city of steel”, but that the economic stability of industry was based on “a cleaner and green future”.
“Our steel strategy will expose a positive vision of the future of industry, supported up to 2.5 billion pounds of government investment, in addition to the 500 million pounds sterling to transform Port Talbot,” they added.
The Welsh government said that it had “worked closely with all parties to ensure that a range of support is available”.
“A large part of the financing of the transition of 80 million sterling pounds of the British government is allocated to tailor-made support and we encourage anyone who has not already done so to see what support is at their disposal,” he added.
Find out more:
“ All the ” options on the table for British Steel, says the chancellor
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A spokesperson for the Neath Port Talbot council said he was doing “everything he could to support people affected by the closure of the Hauts Fourneaux de Port Talbot”.
“The Council recently granted a building permit for the 1.25 billion pound Sterling’s electric arc oven from Tata Steel to Port Talbot which should be operational in early 2028,” they added.