Corus trade unions offer pay cut to save factory: report

LONDON (AFP) — Trade unions at Indian-owned steel group Corus have proposed a 10 percent pay cut for the next six months in an attempt to avoid a factory closure in Wales, the Financial Times reported Thursday.

The Anglo-Dutch group, which was bought last year by India's Tata Steel for 13.7 billion dollars, faces falling demand in Europe amid a sharp global economic downturn and has already slashed output.

The FT said that three British trade unions proposed the steep pay cut in a bid to save the Llanwern steel factory in southern Wales, which employs about 1,000 people. Corus has approximately 25,000 staff in Britain.

"Representatives would accept a 10 percent decrease for everybody, from the bottom to the top of the company," the financial newspaper cited a senior trade union official as saying.

The FT said that no agreement had yet been reached but added that talks would continue Thursday and over the next fortnight.

Last month, Corus decided to cut its production by 30 percent over the next six months in response to flagging demand.

The group has already shut three blast furnaces in Britain and the Netherlands as part of the output reduction.