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Community joins call to Trade Secretary on steel safeguards

Community has today joined Unite the Union and GMB to call for Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss to intervene and extend the steel safeguards.

The Trade Remedies Investigations Directorate (part of the Department for International Trade) yesterday recommended to the Government that the measures on half of all steel products should be terminated in June. There will now be a short period of consultation with industry, and between Government Departments before a final decision is made by the Secretary of State for International Trade.

Responding to the decision, Alasdair McDiarmid, Operations Director of the steelworkers’ union Community, said:

“This is the first test of the Government’s commitment to our steel industry post-Brexit and they’re failing it. The Government must reconsider this appalling decision which threatens jobs and puts the future of our industry at risk.

This Government has had plenty of warm words for steelworkers but now it’s come to the crunch we’re being left exposed to a catastrophic surge of cheap foreign imports. Many steelworkers put their trust in the Tories but this announcement betrays them and makes a complete mockery of the levelling up agenda.”

The full letter can be read here.

If you are a member of Community and need help or advice, please contact us at servicecentre@community-tu.org or on 0800 389 6332.

To join Community, visit www.community-tu.org/join.