The British Steel Corporation has finally announced its closures of most steel plants in Scotland. The main effect is to cut down production to a 1.8 million-ton plant in Ravenscraig. Motherwell; an integrated plant producing ingots for the mills at Gartcosh, and using modern Basic Oxygen processes. The factories which are closing all use the old OpenHearth method. The only remaining production is a certain amount of small-scale electric-are producton.
Altogether, at least 7,000 jobs are directly involved: however, this does not present a true picture of the damage done. Firstly, almost all the production is concentrated in the Lanarkshire area, in small tight-knit units. Unemployment in this area is already amongst the highest in Scotland; furthermore, there is no new industry being created in the area. Secondly, the workforce is on the whole old, highlytrained, and unlikely to find jobs easily outside the steel industry. Thirdly, there are a substantial number of dependent industries in the area which will also be strongly affected. In other words, the overall effect is to smash up and consign to the scrapheap, not only individual workers, not merely families, but whole communities: such as at Glengarnock, a Lanarkshire town which will virtually cease to exist.
BSC is working to an overall scheme of rationalisation which started when it was set up. It