Help pledge to all Corus workers

The hot strip mill at the Llanwern plant is to be mothballed

The assembly government has pledged to help every steel worker made redundant from Corus in Wales find another job.

Meanwhile, Euro MP Glenys Kinnock has written to the UK government in the hope staff could benefit from a support scheme operating in the Netherlands.

Around 1,100 workers across Wales face redundancy, with around half of those going at the Llanwern plant in Newport.

Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said training and support would be offered to all those affected.

The job losses, announced on Monday, are part of around 2,500 Corus redundancies across the UK.

In Llanwern, the hot strip mill is to be mothballed but workers fear it will not reopen.

Mr Jones, who is also minister for the economy and transport, said Wales will be "hard it" by the job losses and said he appreciated the "distress and uncertainty" facing Corus workers, their families and the wider community.

'Ride the storm'

But he said he was determined to "take every action" possible to ensure Wales was able to carry on its "long and proud association" with steel in the future.

"We've spoken to the company's senior management on a number of occasions and they have our absolute assurance that we will work with the UK Government and trades union representatives to do everything possible to support the workforce and the communities affected by these losses," he said.

"Corus recognizes and appreciates that commitment. Like us, they recognise that we need to ride the current storm and put in place measures that make us more robust and resilient and enable us to take advantage of the new economic circumstances."

Mr Jones said workers would be offered training and help to find new jobs.

The assembly government would also work to try to safeguard jobs in Corus, he added, while holding regular economic summits to target policies.

I am urging Corus bosses not to make a rash short-term decision but rather to sit down with the UK Government and Welsh Assembly Government to find a way forward Glenys Kinnock

It comes as Mrs Kinnock urged the UK government to help the workers.

"We must do all we can to protect the steel workers and their families," she said.

She said Corus workers in the Netherlands were benefiting from a new government support scheme which pays up to 70% of workers' basic pay via unemployment benefits.

Mrs Kinnock said the remaining 30% was paid by Corus, to allow retraining and paid downtime, to help the company cope with the downturn in demand.

"I am urging Corus bosses not to make a rash short-term decision but rather to sit down with the UK Government and Welsh Assembly Government to find a way forward," she said.

"To this end I have already written to the minister responsible, John Denham, to explore the possibilities."

Asked about the Dutch policy, First Minister Rhodri Morgan said: "I find it abhorrent for a government to pay people to sit at home."

"I would much rather do what we are doing, namely through the Pro Act scheme where you pay people not to be at home but you pay for them to be retrained so that they're ready for the 21st Century whether they remain eventually with that employer or whether they move onto another job.

"We really should be preparing people to be really efficient and fighting fit ready for the upturn."