Corus workers 'may face pay cut'

Bosses at steelmaker Corus proposed that workers take a pay cut to save the firm money, the Community union said.

But it was unclear whether the pay cut was an alternative to job losses among the 25,000 strong workforce or the closure of plants, the union added.

Fears remain that the Llanwern site in Newport, South Wales, will close as the company make savings, costing 1,000 jobs.

The deepening economic downturn has hit demand for steel.

Construction and carmaking, two steel-intensive industries, are among those to have suffered.

'Changes needed'

It had been reported that unions had come up with the plan for workers to earn less in a battle to keep their jobs.

But Michael Leahy, general secretary of the Community union, told the BBC that "any proposals which have come forward have done so as consequence of proposals that have been put by the company".

"They've put a number of proposals including a general pay cut," he added.

"They've not even suggested this is an alternative to reductions in the workforce or closures, but we know however if the order book stays as it is for a long period of time, then we know structural changes may need to take place in Corus."

Mr Leahy said that members would be informed of the range of options were on the table, adding that they and Corus were committed to avoiding closures and job losses, if at all possible.

"We realise that there's been a global downturn in production of steel and people wanting steel - in fact we realise there's been over 40% reduction in the order books for steel in Corus UK and Europe-wide.

"We've been discussing a range of possible arrangements to ensure we have a sustainable industry going ahead and protect interest of our members - they have mortgages and commitments. We didn't want a dramatic impact on their jobs or ability to earn as a consequence of this crisis."

Closure fears

Earlier this month, Corus, the Anglo-Dutch subsidiary of Indian steel giant Tata, asked Gordon Brown for UK government aid.

The firm's head Philippe Varin said state help was needed to allow firms to avoid redundancies amid falling output.

Corus axed 500 jobs from its UK workforce of 25,000 last month.

The firm, which was bought by Tata Steel for $12bn (£8bn) in 2007, plans to reduce its European output by 30% by March.

Llanwern is one of the last remaining steel mills in the UK and employs around 1,000 people.

Corus also runs sites at locations including Port Talbot in South Wales, Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire and Rotherham in South Yorkshire.

Earlier this year, thousands of workers at digger-maker JCB agreed to accept a pay cut to save 350 jobs.