Steel giant Corus is reportedly set to wield the axe upon a further 2,000 UK employees, bringing its total redundancies for 2009 so far to 4,500.
The cuts are to be suffered in the north of England at the company’s Rotherham and Scunthorpe sites. No official announcement has been made but one is expected later as Corus’ parent company Tata Steel reports its financial results.
Corus has suffered since the recession kicked in through the knock on effects of the ailing construction and automotive industries to which it supplies.
The fate of a further 2,000 staff from Corus’ Teesside Cast Products site also remains in the balance after in May a four-way consortium pulled out of a ten year contract to buy most of the plants steel until 2014.
“Corus need to decide if they really are trying to be fit for the future or just fit for the scrapheap,” said Community union general secretary Michael Leahy.
“We have real concerns for the integrity of the British steel industry,” he added. “We fear its further erosion could fundamentally undermine UK manufacturing,” he added.
