MP will fight for Corus workers

SCUNTHORPE MP Elliot Morley has pledged to fight for the future of workers made redundant at Corus after talks with the key players.

The steel giant, owned by Indian firm Tata, announced last week it would be cutting another 500 jobs in Scunthorpe to try to survive the recession.

Mr Morley said he wants to work with Yorkshire Forward and the Government to make sure opportunities for retraining and new jobs are in place at Corus as soon as possible.

He said: "Yorkshire Forward is going to set up a task force to assist people at Corus who are taking redundancy.

"They will set up a facility on site and work with management, unions, the job centre and other agencies.

"There will be specialist advice for people or retraining, setting up on their own and other job opportunities and what help may be available for them.

"The Jobcentre has received some more funding to help them deal with the current situation. I will be having more talks next week."

Yorkshire Forward chief executive Tom Riordan added his support to the job seekers, pledging his organisation would help where it could.

He said: "This news is a real blow for our region and our thoughts are with all the individuals and families affected by this news.

"I want to reassure them we are ready to provide support to those who need it during these times."

The Government announced on Thursday it would be making £5-million available to help people affected by the job cuts announced at Corus.

At the same time, business minister Pat McFadden said Corus remained a nationally-important company, employing about 20,000 in the UK.

About 2,000 people across the country will lose their jobs following the latest round of cuts provoked, the company said, by the failure of steel orders to return to expected levels.

The firm insists it has to restructure until order book levels return to more usual volumes.

The latest cuts follow an earlier round of redundancies in January, when 93 workers in Scunthorpe lost their jobs.