Corus chiefs under fire in bonuses row

ANGRY steelworkers in Port Talbot have blasted Corus bosses for failing to pay them their cash bonuses.

The decision to withhold the payments has put the Tata-owned giant on a collision course with union leaders, who are preparing to take legal action.

Workers in Port Talbot have now contacted the Post to voice their disgust at the way they are being treated.

They said they had bent over backwards to keep the plant commercially viable by co-operating with a £250 million cost reduction "weathering the storm" programme.

"Now Corus has the nerve to set up a welfare system for employees in financial hardship, of which there are many, and offering loans," one worker said.

"We can borrow our own money and then pay it back to them with interest, when they are the cause of the hardship."

Workers in Port Talbot, like others within the Corus Strip Products division, have not received their first-quarter bonus.

Those at Trostre, which is part of another division, have had theirs but will not be getting a second-quarter bonus.

Community union is preparing to go to industrial tribunal over the first-quarter bonuses only, but said it would support any branches that wanted to ballot on industrial action.

Corus says it is committed to bonus payments, but says it is imperative they are linked to current priorities and the company's ability to pay. It also claims discussions have not progressed because of disagreements about the company's pension scheme proposals.