February 2007
"What does the Tata Steel takeover mean for the future of Port Talbot?" That was the "no-beating-about-the-bush" first question from a member of the School Council when I recently visited Glanafan Comprehensive School.
That question – and so many others I heard that morning – taught me so much about how we are trying to understand and cope with changes locally and globally.
These young people on their School Council wanted to know about the world around them and were doing something about it, working as community volunteers locally with such organisations as SNAC and fundraising to help children less fortunate than themselves in other countries.
As for my answer to the 'Tata question', I explained I was about to visit the Corus plant to meet management and unions and I believed that the changes should be faced with confidence and enthusiasm.
I met with Mr Phil Dryden, the Corus Managing Director at Port Talbot, and with the Chair of the joint steel unions, Mr David Ferris. I was impressed with what Mr Dryden called, "the future is in our hands" – tackling global competitiveness at the plant level, continued improvement in health, safety, skills and environmental issues and building strong local community partnerships. These were the issues which concerned the local management and unions in what they have described in recent years as 'the journey'.
No doubt the words of the senior executives of Tata will be scrutinised by everyone in Port Talbot in future months. Already, the Managing Director of Tata Steel, Mr B. Muthurama revealingly insists "This deal is not about cutting jobs. It is about creating new opportunities for growth. If the company becomes more competitive, we will have better job security. I think job security would have been less if there hadn't been a deal."
That telling message needs to be reinforced inside and outside the plant locally. There is a future for steel in Port Talbot and that future, despite global forces, is still very much in "our hands" as Mr Phil Dryden said.
The future of the steel industry locally is undoubtedly one of my main preoccupations in Parliament and back in the Constituency, but not to the exclusion of other important issues, including the environment.
In next month's column I shall be writing about the launch of the campaign for an 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty' and 'Green Villages' in the Upper Afan Valley.
