250 jobs are axed at Astra factory
New blow for car workers
VAUXHALL has confirmed it will axe another 250 workers at its Ellesmere Port plant.
The cull comes just three months after the car maker announced 400 redundancies at the Cheshire factory, which produces the Astra.
Vauxhall, bought by Peugeot parent PSA last year from General Motors, say the job cuts are in preparation for it going from two to one shift in April.
The firm says it is facing “challenging” market conditions in Europe.
Job losses were needed to “accelerate the recovery of plant productivity,” it added. The move prompted demands for PSA to guarantee the survival of the plant, which will be left with a 1,200 workforce. It once employed 12,000.
Insiders say job losses are so the plant becomes even more efficient when it fights against others in the PSA group to build new models.
Justin Madders, Labour MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston, has called on the Government to give the plant financial support. Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “This is an additional blow to one of the most efficient [workforces] in the industry. PSA must provide investment guarantees on new models for Ellesmere Port. The Government must play its part too and provide guarantees on frictionless trade after Brexit. We ask that ministers give PSA and other manufacturers a clear signal that government will support this crucial sector through the Brexit process.”
He added: “We will not tolerate compulsory redundancies.”
Rebecca Long-Bailey, Labour Shadow Business Secretary, said: “When PSA took over Vauxhall the Government promised it would do the utmost to protect workers.
“Since then a third of jobs at Ellesmere Port have been cut.
“The Government must set out how it will support the plant and urgently provide certainty for the sector as a whole after Brexit.”
Vauxhall’s car sales in the UK fell 22% to 195,000 last year.