When: 10:30am on Wednesday 28 June 2023 on Trafalgar Square marching to Parliament Square for 11:00am.
Where: Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN
Contact: GMB Press Office, 07958 156846
Hundreds of steel workers are set to march on Parliament as new GMB figures show almost 150,000 steel jobs have been lost.
Between 1981 and 2021, a total 146,500 steel jobs have gone, 79 per cent of the entire sector. [1]
Workers from as far afield as Hartlepool and Port Talbot will march from Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square calling for a proper industrial strategy and relief from the energy costs that are crippling the steel sector.
Great Britain steel employment, 1981 and 2021
Figures accessed 26 June 2023
Great Britain |
North East |
North West |
Yorkshire and The Humber |
East Midlands |
West Midlands |
East |
London |
South East |
South West |
Wales |
Scotland |
|
1981 |
186,000 |
21,000 |
12,800 |
48,600 |
12,000 |
30,000 |
3,800 |
4,300 |
4,100 |
1,500 |
30,300 |
19,000 |
2021 |
39,500 |
3,050 |
3,850 |
9,700 |
1,600 |
4,200 |
915 |
120 |
775 |
1,400 |
12,250 |
1,115 |
Change (n) |
-146,500 |
-17,950 |
-8,950 |
-38,900 |
-10,400 |
-25,800 |
-2,885 |
-4,180 |
-3,325 |
-100 |
-18,050 |
-17,885 |
Change (%) |
-78.8 |
-85.5 |
-69.9 |
-80.0 |
-86.7 |
-86.0 |
-75.9 |
-97.2 |
-81.1 |
-6.7 |
-59.6 |
-94.1 |
Charlotte Childs, GMB National Officer, said:
“Under this Government’s watch, the UK’s proud steel industry is being allowed to whither and die.
“Almost 150,000 jobs have gone – close to 80 per cent of the entire steel workforce.
“A lack of industrial strategy and no support for crippling energy costs have left the industry at risk of ‘steel dumping’ from overseas.
“We need action know, or the industry as we know it will cease to exist.”
