A senior official of Tata Steel on Wednesday indicated that the steel major might provide a rehabilitation package for the 1,700 workers slated to lose their jobs due to the partial mothballing of its subsidiary, Corus' Teesside plant in Britain.

"Before we began the acquisition, we were aware that the size of the existing workforce at Corus would have to be brought down. The workers who will be laid off at Teesside could be rehabilitated through training and retraining. I am optimistic that something will be worked out," said R N Misra, head of human resources and industrial relations-legal, on the sidelines of an event organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

During his address, Misra emphasised the fact that Tata Steel had not been witness to a worker-related conflict in over 80 years.

"The last strike at Tata Steel was in September 1928. Even though we have brought down the number of our employees from 78,000 in 1995 to 30,000 now, we have not had an industrial dispute," he said.

Last week, Corus met with the UK's National Steel Co-ordinating Committee and Teesside Multi-Union representatives.

"All parties agreed to establish a joint task force to ensure all alternatives to mothballing are fully examined; to continue appropriate preparations should mothballing be required; and to oversee individual consultations with the workforce, which will begin in January," the company had said.