Latest news with #steelworker
The Guardian
10-08-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Gary Jones obituary
My friend Gary Jones, who has died of pancreatic cancer aged 64, was a steelworker, socialist and local councillor. A perfect example of the Welsh working-class autodidact, Gary immersed himself in military history, read voraciously and, it seemed, always had pocketfuls of leftwing badges which he would hand out to anyone. Gary and I first met at the Laugharne Weekend festival in the town on which Dylan Thomas modelled 'Llaregggub' in Under Milk Wood. As there's no green room, the punters and performers mingle all weekend, and consequently the same people come each year. That's how we became friends, albeit just for a weekend a year, though you can fit a lifetime into an hour over a few pints in a Welsh pub. Born in Gwent, Gary was the eldest of the three children of Yvonne Hawkins, a shop assistant, and Robert Jones, a steelworker. His father wanted to call him Yuri Gagarin Jones, but was persuaded by a sober-minded registrar to name him after Gary Cooper instead. After Ebbw Vale grammar school, Gary joined his father in the local steelworks as a tinplater, remaining there until it closed in 2002, when he relocated with his family to Llangennech in Carmarthenshire to work at the Trostre steelworks until his retirement in 2019. Aged 15, Gary joined the Young Socialists, becoming a full member of the Labour party three years later, and remained one for the rest of his life. In Llangennech he embraced village life, being elected to the local community council, serving for a year as chair. He also represented Llangennech and Bryn on Carmarthenshire unitary council. During the 2024 general election (undergoing chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer that had spread to his liver), Gary earned brief notoriety at a hustings when he made a Nazi salute to a far-right Ukip candidate, Stan Robinson, after Robinson had expressed admiration for General Franco. Asked to leave, Gary then apologised to the security staff. Neither I nor any of Gary's many friends were remotely surprised or shocked. He was a passionate analyst of leftwing history, his Twitter handle being 'Poumista' after Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista (Poum), the anti-Stalinist socialist party George Orwell joined up with in the Spanish civil war. We last met at this year's festival. He gave me a badge. I gave him a book (I also portrayed him in several festival posters). He died seven weeks later, a prospect he spoke of with calm nobility. Gary is survived by his wife, Cara (nee Evans), a trainer for Carmarthenshire school staff on computer systems and data protection, now retired, whom he married in 1985, their daughters, Molly and Rowen, his sister, Dawn, and his brother, David.
BBC News
03-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Rotherham's Liberty Steel mill 'basically derelict', worker says
A South Yorkshire steelworker who has seen his hours slashed due to the lack of work described the situation as "grim and soul destroying".Lee Bradshaw is one of many employees stood down from their shift for nearly a year due to the stalling of operations at Liberty Steel in Speciality Steels produces steel from scrap metal, but the company has been unable to buy the scrap needed because of financial problems and unpaid debts.A Liberty Steel spokesperson said continuing to pay staff on short-time working hours displayed its "deep commitment to supporting Speciality Steel despite sustained challenges in the UK steel sector". Mr Bradshaw, a team leader who started working in steel mills in 1985, said his current options were attending the melting shop where he was employed or staying at home for 80% of his salary."We've had short-time working since Covid," he said. "First it was the odd week, then the odd three weeks and since last July our furnaces haven't struck a light."On the days he goes to the melting shop, he said there was very little to do. "There's painting and sweeping and I take myself on a walk around the plant, but it's basically derelict," Mr Bradshaw said. "There's nothing worse than a steel mill that's not working, it's like walking around a museum."From what it was, hard manual work, to now be pushing a brush around and being told to do some weeding – that's not what people got a job there for, it's a waste of skills."Liberty Speciality Steels avoided a winding up order last month after lawyers representing the firm said talks with a third-party purchaser had been taking place.A final decision was adjourned until 16 July to allow time for the sale of the company to go through. A spokesperson for Liberty Steel said: "Even during extended periods of inactivity, we have continued to meet operating costs, pay wages, and sustain the business. "We will keep fighting to secure a long-term, sustainable future for Speciality Steel. "We are actively exploring every viable option protect the business as a going concern."Rotherham's Labour MP Sarah Champion described the situation as "absolutely unfathomable", adding: "Why is it that such a potentially profitable business isn't up and flourishing?"We hear snippets of information about Liberty, the workers are desperate and deserve information, but at the moment we're just in a fog." She added: "We've got a really good product, we know there's a market there. So why aren't we at full capacity right now?"Mr Bradshaw said he could choose to retire and start receiving his pension, but he believed the plant would reopen and wanted to be there when it did. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
