CORUS steelworkers were among thousands of protestors who marched through Birmingham to draw the Government’s attention to the crumbling manufacturing industry.

The workers travelled to the Midlands from Teesside Cast Products (TCP) as they sought help to keep the plant open.

The livelihoods of 2,000 workers and a further 1,000 contractors at the site in Redcar, east Cleveland, were put at risk when a consortium of four international companies reneged on a ten-year agreement to buy 78 per cent of the steel it produces earlier this month.

Geoff Waterfield, multiunion chairman at the plant, said: “We feel that if we can get plenty of publicity we can keep the pressure on the company and on the Government, so we are not forgotten.”

March For Jobs, which was organised by union Unite, aimed to persuade the Government to mimic the steps other European countries have taken to safeguard manufacturing.

The protest followed another grim week for job losses, with BT and Legal & General announcing thousands of job cuts across the country.

Campaigners are calling for a wage subsidy for staff on short-time working, which could keep TCP up and running throughout the ongoing economic downturn.

Tony Woodley, joint leader of Unite, told the crowds in the city’s Centenary Square, said: “Our message is that it’s no good bailing out the banks if you are not looking after the workers, their jobs and their homes. It’s not banks we should be looking after, its workers.”

The march attracted more than 7,000 protestors, including the former boss of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Lord Digby Jones, who walked side-by-side with workers from Corus and car companies Vauxhall and Jaguar Land Rover.

“Our mission is to get ministers to wake up and act to halt the jobs crisis, and our message is clear – workers are not going to pay the price for the bankers crisis,” said Mr Woodley.

“There are more than two million people unemployed, with 250,000 joining the dole queue in the past couple of months alone.

“We cannot risk seeing another forgotten generation of young people who cannot find work and have their lives ruined as a result.”