Tata Steel has confirmed there will be no compulsory redundancies in IJmuiden when the company reorganises its European activities, broadcaster NOS is reporting.

But this is not a change on earlier agreements and the current pact on jobs will be respected, the company is quoted as saying. That deal states there will be no compulsory redundancies until October 2021.

In addition, there is ‘absolutely no question’ of the IJmuiden plant being spit off from the parent company because of its potential within the group, the company said.

The FNV trade union federation had threatened to take industrial action if Tata Steel failed to uphold the agreement and to extend it for a further five years.

The union has described the company’s reaction as inadequate and said the jobs commitment is only one of 11 demands it has made. ‘I am shocked that we get to hear this via the media,’ spokesman Roel Berghuis told local paper Noord Hollands Dagblad. ‘The reaction should come from Tata Steel Nederland. You expect an invitation, talks.’

Tata Steel said last year 1,600 jobs will go at the company’s Dutch operations as part of a plan to slash the European workforce by 3,000. Two-thirds of the jobs to go are management and administrative functions.

The IJmuiden plant has a workforce of some 9,000 and is one of the most modern steel works in Europe. It focuses on making steel for the car and packaging industries.

DutchNews.nl has contacted Tata Steel Europe for comment.