Unions vow to fight Vauxhall, Peugeot job losses

Unions vow to fight Vauxhall, Peugeot job losses

	Published : Thu, 18 May 2006 14:05 By : Richard Owen Print this Story

LONDON - Union members at Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port factory are not satisfied with the voluntary redundancy package offered by General Motors and have unanimously rejected it. The offer was tabled after GM announced that it would be downsizing about 900 jobs at the plant.

The Transport and General Workers Union and Amicus have also pledged to fight against Peugeot's decision to axe 2,300 jobs and shut down its Ryton factory in Coventry. "The biggest threat to this company is if people in this country do not accept this kind of treatment by a global company. If this plant ever ceases to produce cars, ultimately we will advise people 'Don't buy Vauxhall,'" said Derek Simpson, general secretary of Amicus.

The job losses at Vauxhall were confirmed after the company's management officials had talks with union workers. Vauxhall chairman Jon Browning said that they would be offering voluntary redundancy packages, "We will, of course, work together with our labour representatives to achieve a socially responsible solution for the affected employees," he said. "For the people at Ellesmere Port, this is by no means indicative of a lack of progress made locally over the past several years."

He added that progress had in fact been made and that the productivity and quality were of the highest standards, " but the issue of long-term competitiveness remains. We need to address this. This move will have positive effects on the cost structure of the plant." Tony Woodley, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, was alarmed by the number of jobs being lost in the manufacturing sector. "This plant, our industry and our country cannot afford to keep shedding skills like this," he said.

Earlier Chancellor Gordon Brown had visited the plant prior to the announcement, "We will do what we can to help each and every one of the workforce who may be affected by this announcement to find other jobs in the area," he said. He added that changing the UK labour laws was not the answer to the problem.