‘Crushing blow’ as 250 dockyard jobs cut
● Defence giant Babcock confirms lay-offs as super carrier project ends
Hundreds of skilled jobs will be cut at Rosyth Dockyard following the completion of the naval aircraft carriers project. Yard owners Babcock announced yesterday that 250 staff would no longer be needed as work is finished on the super carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales – a ten-year project that has cost more than £6 billion and endured numerous delays.
The defence giant stressed the future outlook for Rosyth remained bright. But SNP MP Douglas Chapman, whose constituency includes the Fife port town, described the decision as a “crushing blow” for workers.
Trade union bosses called on the UK government to make decisions soon on the next generation of surface warships for the Royal Navy to protect remaining staff. A Babcock spokesman said: “The prospects for Babcock’s operations at Rosyth remain good. The last ten years of the Queen Elizabeth class carrier programme has been an outstanding success story.
“Unfortunately given the one-off nature of this largescale programme, as the ships begin to be handed over to our customer we must inevitably reshape our business to remain competitive and take on new challenges, which we firmly believe exist for Rosyth.
“However, medium-term opportunities cannot compensate for the 250 or so specific roles and capabilities no longer needed with the slowdown of the QEC work.”
He added: “Our employees are our priority throughout this process. We understand how unsettling this news may be and we will work closely with those affected and our trade union representatives through this consultation period to redeploy or relocate as many employees as possible within our wider organisation, and support those who wish to take this opportunity to move on.”
Mr Chapman said: “On Mon- day I asked the secretary of state for defence at Westminster what reassurances he can give to workers at Rosyth following the departure of the carriers and if he would visit Rosyth. Now, less than 24 hours later, this dreadful news is delivered to dockyard workers. It is deeply worrying that these jobs are lost as the UK government launches their new industrial strategy.
“The secretary of state said he was ‘incredibly grateful for the amazing work’ the Rosyth workforce have done on the carriers, but people in my constituency cannot live on a Tory minister’s platitudes. They need follow-on contracts and deals, and this latest news underlines the importance of continuing the fight for future … contracts to come to Rosyth.”
Prospect, the trade union with the largest membership at the dockyard, called for its “highly skilled” workforce to be protected. Richard Hardy, Prospect national secretary for Scotland, said: “These workers are key to the future of the UK’S defence shipbuilding programme.”