END OF THE ROAD FOR 1,160 JOBS?
FORD’S BRIDGEND WORKERS SUFFER DEVASTATING BLOW AS REPORT WARNS OF HUNDREDS OF JOB LOSSES BY 2021
UNIONS representing Ford workers at Bridgend have vowed to fight for the future of the plant where 1,160 jobs are at risk.
After a meeting with Ford bosses yesterday, the Unite union accused the company of having kept workers in the dark about the scale of the threat facing them over the past 18 months.
And it called on the company to provide “cast iron legal guarantees” over the future of engine production at the site, which employs 1,800 people.
Three mass meetings were being held at the plant yesterday to discuss the latest developments.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “Ford workers at Bridgend have every right to feel angry over the company’s behaviour. This loyal workforce and their union have been kept in the dark over recent months. But the focus now has to be saving these jobs.
“Over the coming days we will be consulting our members on our next steps, but they can be assured that Unite will use all its might to fight for the future of Bridgend.
“We will not allow Ford to walk away from its responsibilities. Ford must give this plant a chance and work with Unite to secure a better future.
“We will be seeking legally binding guarantees to secure future production at the plant as well as exploring how Bridgend’s production capacity can be fully utilised through the introduction of new lines.”
The GMB union said the meeting had confirmed that the jobs were at risk and described it as their “worst nightmare come true”.
GMB organiser Jeff Beck said: “The nightmare for our members at Bridgend has unfortunately come true.
“This is a real kick in the teeth for our hard-working members at the Ford plant – as well as their families and the community as a whole.
“These are good jobs which are vital to the economic health of the area. Our first priority is to defend our members’ jobs.
“We will be consulting with them to decide what action we will take in the wake of this devastating news.”
The meeting between union officials and Ford managers yesterday afternoon followed revelations in a document to the BBC that Ford anticipated the potential loss of 1,160 jobs at Bridgend by 2021 unless new contracts to produce engines were won.
But the document also contained claims that the plant is “underperforming” and attributed that to absence, non-performance and work practices including paying staff allowances they are not entitled to and regular job rotation.
If the document is correct it is hugely damaging to the chance of Bridgend winning contracts to fill the production void looming in 2020 when Jaguar moves production to Wolverhampton and the Sigma engine stops.
Besides the Jaguar engines the plant currently produces 511,000 Sigma engines a year but that will come to an end in 2019-20, leaving only the Dragon engine, production of which has been capped at 125,000 a year.
Yesterday the company issued the following statement: “We announced in September last year that Ford would invest an initial £100m of an approved investment to build a family of allnew, technologically advanced petrol
engines at Bridgend from late 2018.
“In line with this announcement, we have shared the five-year outlook with our union partners, based on what we know today. This shows healthy volumes to occupy the current workforce over the next two to three years.
“Beyond that, identified workload is reduced and whilst such a forecast is not unusual, given the cyclical nature of our business, it is a concern, and we fully understand that.
“Ford has therefore proposed a joint working party with its union partners, Unite and GMB, to identify future business opportunities.
“It goes without saying, that in order to attract new business, the Bridgend operation would need to ensure its competitiveness, and addressing some of the current concerns relating to the plant’s efficiency would be high on the agenda.”
The threat to jobs at Ford was raised in Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons, with Bridgend MP Madeleine Moon asking for assurances that ministers would meet company bosses and unions to see what support the company needed.
Prime Minister Theresa May said a third of Ford engines worldwide were made in the UK and added: “We will continue to have regular dialogue with Ford about the ways in which Government can help to make sure that this success continues.”
The unions at Bridgend also urged the Government to get involved. Gerard Coyne, challenger for the post of general secretary of Unite, said: “The UK Government urgently needs to step in with financial support to secure the jobs at the Ford plant. I helped put together the deal that saved hundreds of jobs at Jaguar Land Rover in the Midlands. We need a similar deal for car workers in South Wales.
“I am writing to the Chancellor urging that he use his Budget, on Tuesday, to demonstrate the government’s commitment to preserving the skills and manufacturing export base that the UK will need more than ever, post Brexit.”
Mr McCluskey added: “Brexit is clearly a factor here. So I appeal again to the Westminster Government and Theresa May to make it categorically clear without delay that there will be tariff-free access to the single market and customs union, because the uncertainty the UK’s automotive sector is enduring is having damaging real life consequences now, before talks have even begun.
“The Prime Minister must act now because the very future of UK manufacturing, including car making, is at stake.”
A spokesman for the First Minister Carwyn Jones, who is in the United States for a trade and investment tour, told ITV Wales: “These reports are clearly deeply concerning, and we are actively seeking urgent assurances from Ford – both in the UK and US – about their future plans.
“We are also speaking to the workforce through the trades unions and offering them every assistance. We have worked very closely with Ford over a number of years to secure a future for the Bridgend plant and we remain committed to supporting these vital manufacturing jobs.”