Report - Thamesteel Kent feb 15

[monk]

Explored with dmax & topcat

Early to bed early to rise, that was the plan, baby had a different idea though :mad so with only a few hours disturbed sleep the 4am alarm wasn't a welcome sound.

Huddled in a small room freezing cold three figures talking shit, day light started to slowly appear, A first look at the surroundings the steel works had to offer, yup it's all worth it

7 February 2012
Four hundred workers employed by the Thamesteel mill at Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, England, are to lose their jobs. Thamesteel was taken into receivership at the end of January.
The company is owned by the Saudi Arabian Al-Tuwairqi Group, which took over the site in 2002. It boasts on its web site that its business has grown like “The Big Bang†since it started trading in 1977. Such bluster is out of place in today’s economic climate.
The closure deals a catastrophic blow to an area of Kent suffering one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Sheerness has always had a long-standing shortage of jobs, which contributes to the ongoing deprivation in the area. Despite all the promises of successive governments to try to improve matters, the situation continues to deteriorate.
The Conservative MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, Gordon Henderson, spoke of an “employment disaster†when the closure became public knowledge—conveniently forgetting to mention that it is his party, following in the footsteps of the last Labour government, that is wielding the austerity wrecking ball to such devastating effect. Henderson’s only proposed action was to seek an “urgent meeting with Vince Cable,†the business secretary in the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition, “to see what the government can do to help support the site.â€
Thamesteel began life in 1972 and managed to weather previous economic storms. But an anticipated investment deal with Trafigura, an Amsterdam-based multinational dealing in oil and metal, came to nothing. It has not been announced why the deal fell through. The workers now will join the ranks of the 9,000 or so people who lost their jobs when Peacocks, the retail clothing store, closed its doors for good in January.
To add insult to injury, Thamesteel has refused to pay the staff their last month’s wages. The international accountancy firm Mazars has been appointed joint administrator and now controls the purse strings.
The trade unions representing Thamesteel workers, the GMB and Community Union, have done all in their power to limit workers’ response to the closure to the bankrupt appeal to Cable proposed by the Tories to save the plant. They have said they will work with the administrators to find a new buyer.
Keith Hazlewood, national secretary of the GMB, declared, “Vince Cable has to be proactive by supporting the UK steel industry and finding a buyer for this plant.â€
Michael Leahy, general secretary of the Community Union, explained that his members had only had 48 hours’ notice they were likely to be sacked, that they would not be paid for January and that there wasn’t any prospect of financial support in the near future. Once again, his only response was to declare that he would also be working with the administrator “to try to find an alternative investor.â€
Leahy made clear he is quite prepared to bargain away the hard-fought-for working conditions achieved by the staff over the years in order to “deepen and widen the search for an investor,†adding that he would work with anybody who wanted to give Thamesteel a future.
In a function normally associated with a management propaganda exercise, Leahy announced that “the union is also organising an on-site support day for redundant workers next Tuesday with assistance from local education colleges, the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, the union’s training arm Communitas, and other support agencies.â€

Creeping around on the maze of metal walkways trying to be as stealth as possible, well aware that security can walk in at any moment we hear voices,we duck away into the shadows and wait, heart thumping,adrenalin pumping wondering if we're gonna be unlucky this time, the voices drift away and are once again over taken by the noise of the pigeons above, back in business

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Massive thanks to dmax

 

[Speed]

Very nice, there was a rumor going round it was in use again but doesn't look it lol!

 

[Wevsky]

It's a pretty big site ,yet security always seem to be where you want to go..Nice one mate

 

[monk]

cheers mate,the only thing its used for at the moment is a giant pigeon coup

 

[host]

Spot on mate..Nice to see it in black and white..

 

[monk]

Cheers mate, it's pretty dark in there so the black & white are hiding some dodgy pics to be honest.

 

[Wevsky]

are all the big trucks and machinery still dotted around outside mate ?

 

[monk]

are all the big trucks and machinery still dotted around outside mate ?

Don't remember seeing to much in the way of machinery outside mate.

 

[monk]

Double post

 

[Wevsky]

Don't remember seeing to much in the way of machinery outside mate.

some really nice bits kicking about before..still the inside more than makes up for it

 

[Dmax]

are all the big trucks and machinery still dotted around outside mate ?

all gone mate , nice shots Monk was good to see you guys again

 

[norfolkexplorer]

Looks good