Blast Furnace 4 in Port Talbot is set to close today.
Roy Rickhuss, General Secretary of the Community Union, said it is a sad day for everyone connected to steelmaking in the area.
Rickhuss pointed out that this closure did not have to happen.
Last year, unions suggested a plan to help move to green steelmaking, but Tata Steel turned it down.
He called this decision a missed chance.
Roy Rickhuss said: “The skills and retention scheme we negotiated with Tata is going to be vital.
“The scheme gives workers up to an additional year of employment to gain new skills to find new employment, and importantly participants will be prioritised where there are vacancies in the company.
“The closure of Blast Furnace 4 marks the end of an era, but this is not the end for Port Talbot. We will never stop fighting for our steel industry and our communities in South Wales.”
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