Message from Corus boss to workers

Oct 18 2009 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

And they will also be angered when they see how well Tata look after their employees 5,000 miles away in Jamshedpur, the headquarters of the Tata Steel operation.

The programme will show how Chris discovers Jamshedpur is a town wholly owned by the company and populated by its workers, who are given all they need to ensure a full and comfortable life for themselves and their families . . . and they even get full pay until retirement age if they are made redundant.

It bares a stark comparison to Teesside, where once thriving communities have been ripped apart as the steel industry is slowly erased.

In Jamshedpur, workers and their families enjoy an above-average standard of living and have access to free hospital care, education, extensive sporting facilities, including golf courses, and consider themselves, and subsequent generations, to have a job for life.

One man Chris speaks to calls Tata bosses, “gods”.

Tata’s paternalistic leanings stem from a belief that industry is for the good of society and should therefore serve the needs of society.

It believes the best way this can be done is by taking care of the community.

Chris discovers that despite a world recession, Tata business is booming, so much so that it has massive expansion plans in India and in Vietnam.

The programme questions why Corus is suffering so badly and Chris discovers that many industry experts believe that Tata paid way over the odds for the Corus takeover and therefore won’t invest in Corus until it has reduced its debt.

Back in Teesside, the team interview Corus worker Paul Cassidy, who said: “This is Tata stepping in (in India) saying we’ll look after you people that are going to work for us, build villages for you, have accommodation for you, pay your bills for you and there’s a job there for your son and your son’s sons. They’re doing nothing here”.

V Inside Out will be shown on BBC One tomorrow at 7.30pm.