紐時賞析／英國最大鋼鐵廠轉型更環保 但可能使2800人遭裁員

Britain’s Largest Steel Mill to Become Greener, at a Cost of Jobs

英國最大鋼鐵廠將更環保 代價是裁員

Tata Steel said Friday that it planned to shut down the blast furnaces at Britain’s largest steel mill, in Port Talbot, Wales, and replace them with an electric furnace — a move that would cut carbon emissions but could cost 2,800 jobs.

塔塔鋼鐵周五表示，計畫關閉位於威爾斯塔爾伯特港的英國最大鋼鐵廠高爐，並用電爐取代。這一舉措將減少碳排放，卻可能喪失2800個工作。

The company, part of the India-based Tata conglomerate, says the steel mill, much of which dates back to the 1950s, has frequently lost money.

該公司是總部設在印度的塔塔集團一部分，並稱這座鋼鐵廠大部分廠房可追溯到1950年代，且經常虧損。

“The course we are putting forward is difficult, but we believe it is the right one,” the company’s CEO, T.V. Narendran, said in a statement. “We must transform at pace to build a sustainable business in the U.K. for the long term.” He said Tata had invested almost 5 billion pounds (about $6 billion) in the British business since 2007, when Tata bought the mill.

該公司執行長納倫德蘭在聲明表示，「我們正在提出的路線很困難，但我們相信這是正確的，我們必須迅速轉型，好在英國建立長期的可持續業務」。他說，自塔塔2007年收購該工廠以來，已在這項英國事業投資將近50億英鎊（約60億美元）。

Last year, the British government offered 500 million pounds in support of Tata’s plan, which has an estimated price tag of up to 1.25 billion pounds.

去年，英國政府提供5億英鎊支援塔塔的計畫，該項計畫估計要價高達12.5億英鎊。

Although the announcement was not a surprise, unions representing workers at the plant said they were angry that their proposals to save jobs had been rejected. The plant, one of only two big steel mills left in Britain, employs around 4,000 people, and it was unclear how many of the job cuts would take place at Port Talbot; Tata employs around 8,000 people in Britain.

儘管這項聲明並不讓人意外，代表該廠勞工的工會表示，他們對挽救工作的提案遭到拒絕感到憤怒。該廠是英國僅剩的兩家大型鋼鐵廠之一，雇用大約4000人，目前尚不清楚塔爾伯特港將進行多少工作裁減；塔塔在英國雇用大約8000人。

“It is an absolute disgrace that Tata Steel, and the U.K. government, appear intent on pursuing the cheapest instead of the best plan for our industry, our steelworkers and our country,” two unions, Community and GMB, said in a statement.

Community與GMB兩個工會在聲明表示，「塔塔鋼鐵還有英國政府，似乎意圖為我們的產業、我們的鋼鐵工人和我們的國家尋求最廉價而非最好的計畫，這是個絕對的恥辱」。

Tata wants to replace much of the current operation, which uses coal to extract iron from ore, with an electric furnace that makes steel by melting scrap metal in a blaze of sparks. Electric steel-making, which is more common in the United States than in Europe, tends to employ fewer workers.

塔塔想以火花熔化廢金屬鍊鋼的電爐，取代大部分目前作業方式，亦即用煤炭從礦石提煉鐵。電爐煉鋼在美國比在歐洲更為普遍，傾向於僱用更少工人。

Tata says the shift would ensure that steel-making continued at the site while cutting greenhouse gas emissions at the plant by 85% and Britain’s overall emissions by 1.5%.

塔塔表示，這項轉變將確保該廠繼續煉鋼，同時削減該廠溫室氣體排放85%，以及英國整體碳排1.5%。

文／Stanley Reed 譯／周辰陽