tata steel A local company's pledge could save up to 450 jobs in Britain's city of steel, union leaders said on Friday. Scunthorpe's Tata Steel plant, which employs 4,000 people locally, warned in May it was planning to shed up to 1,200 jobs at the site, alongside 300 others at nearby Teesside. The India-based steel giant, which announced a £1.2 billion net profit for the year ending March, said the cuts were due to falling demand. But Tata Steel, whose latest ad campaign launched on Friday promises "values stronger than steel," is a major employer in a region where there are six jobseekers for every vacancy. Yet the company told staff this week that it now hoped to save up to 450 of those jobs from the axe. Long Products director Jon Bolton said the restructuring was difficult, but they had interviewed employees alongside the unions and were making "every effort" to reduce its payroll through voluntary redundancy. The GMB union's national steel officer Keith Hazelwood said Tata's announcement was a "welcome relief." The union had not yet had the opportunity to study the reasons for the change in plan, but it was very welcome news, he added. However the pledge depends on the company's cost-cutting elsewhere on the site and 750 jobs will still have to go. It is understood that around 500 employees have said they would be willing to accept voluntary redundancies, but union leaders refused to comment. Steelworker union Community national officer Roy Rickhuss said it was premature to talk numbers. "Enquiries don't equate to acceptances.
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