by René Lavanchy
THE head of the consortium of companies that pulled out of a contract with steelmaker Corus, threatening nearly 2,000 British jobs, is “keen” to find new business for the workers, Redcar MP Vera Baird said this week.
Ms Baird was speaking after she and officials from Corus’ trade unions, Unite and Community, met Italian businessman Antonio Marcegaglia and persuaded him to travel to Britain for further talks.
She now hopes that Corus will agree to meet him.
The 1,920 steelworkers at Corus’ Teesside Cast Products plant in Ms Baird’s constituency have been put on redundancy notice after the consortium announced in May it was terminating a contract to buy most of the plant’s steel until 2014.
She told Tribune: “The way forward now is that Marcegaglia has agreed to meet with Corus. My role was to bring him back – he’s agreed to do that. He’s keen to look for commercial ways forward rather than engage in litigation.
“He’s ready to come to the UK. Obviously one doesn’t want that to be a sterile encounter, so I need to report back to Corus so then they can respond flexibly to him.”
Ms Baird, who as Solicitor-General is also a member of the Government, insisted that ministers were fully involved: “The Government is very engaged, but is not going to be directing the businesses. The Government stands willing to help in any way.”
Marcegaglia and three other companies signed a contract with Corus in 2004 to buy 78 per cent of the plant’s output for 10 years. Corus has said the factory will have to be shut down if no new deal is forthcoming.
The British Consul-General in Milan, Laurence Bristow-Smith, is due to write up a report on the consortium’s position for Business Secretary Lord Mandelson.
He attended last week’s meeting with Marcegaglia along with Michael Leahy, general secretary of Community, and Terry Pye, Unite’s national officer for the steel industry.
