HUNDREDS of Corus workers still wait to be told whether they will be casualties of the latest job cuts.
A further downturn in trade was blamed by Corus management for the slash of 377 more Parkgate jobs, 422 at Rotherham all together, as they claimed resizing was again unavoidable.
Concern for steelworkers and their families has been expressed by MP
s, councillors and churchmen, since the shock announcement came late last week – the second to detail major job losses for the company since January.
Defiant Community Union spokesman Stuart Sansome said he and colleagues will continue to thrash out terms with management, and stressed
that "for each proposal management make, we will have a counter one."
He continued: "People on this site have worked together throughout this difficult period and will continue to do so.
"We desperately need financial assistance for this area and will push as hard as we can for Government money to ease the knock-on effects of yet more job losses.
"For every worker's job here, there will be two more lost in the borough. We've got to expl-ore every option to try and keep people in work."
Cut shifts and reduced hours are two options being touted in the bid to save jobs.
"People's first reaction on hearing the news was 'have we still got a plant?'," said Mr Sansome.
"Once it was confirmed that the plant still has a future, people wanted to know 'then how does the latest news affect me?'. In most cases, that has still to answered."
But the steelworkers are the toughest of characters, who have weathered highs and lows over many years.
Added Mr Sansome: "There's a bit of a lull, but information cascades around the site the minute it becomes known.
"The day we heard more jobs were to go, the night shift workers turned up on the dot as usual, ready to get to work. The professionalism here never falters. Everyone supports each other.
"It's hard, but we have to keep positive. We hope there'll be a plant here for many generations to come, and that better times will return."
The company has pledged to retain more than 1,000 people in South Yorkshire, but planning for the future has become increasingly
difficult for a workforce who have become used to living for the moment.
