National campaign to save car and manufacturing jobs

National campaign to save car and manufacturing jobs

Unite has launched a national campaign to save jobs in manufacturing in Britain as the jobs of up to 6,000 motor industry workers hang in the balance with the threatened collapse of van-maker LDV, and agency workers at BMW in Cowley continue to be laid off.

This week an estimated 500 agency workers at the BMW plant are expected to join 330 colleagues sacked last week in the ranks of the unemployed.

Unite, concerned that the recession is biting deep into manufacturing and is hitting the car industry especially hard, is launching a national campaign to save jobs across the sector.

It is also seeking to secure compensation for the Oxford workers already dismissed, backed by thousands of expressions of support for the workers and condemnation of BMW for the manner in which the agency workers, some of whom worked at the plant for six years, were sacked without a penny.

Unite has set up an online petition - www.savemanufacturing.co.uk - to channel support for a national strategy for manufacturing, and to maintain pressure on BMW to treat the sacked workers fairly.

Unite joint general secretary, Tony Woodley, said: “The sackings last week were shocking, with workers given barely an hour’s notice as they finished their shifts. This is no way to deal with the worldwide difficulties facing the motor industry and we expect far better from a company of BMW’s standing.

“Make no mistake, we are now in a battle to save jobs, to save our manufacturing sector and protect our communities from the ravages of unemployment. We urge workers everywhere to sign this petition. We can save jobs, but time is dangerously close to running out. The banks are failing to do the job taxpayers have funded them to do, which is get the cash to needy businesses.

"The government has some good ideas about how it can support this vital industry, and has set aside £1 billion to do so, but accessing this support is like cracking the Da Vinci code. This money needs to get into the hands of employers who need it most desperately, and get to them fast, so that workers can be kept in work and this industry can help drag our country out of recession.”

Tony Woodley condemned BMW for using the agency status of 520 workers at Cowley to allow them to be dismissed without proper notice or compensation: “We have been inundated with messages of support for these workers. People are shocked to learn that BMW can quite lawfully exploit these workers, who could be thrown on the dole without a penny and without forewarning because of their agency status. We are saying to BMW and to employers everywhere that you cannot treat your agency workers as second class citizens.”

Unite is pressing the government to establish a £13 billion strategic fund to support manufacturing through the recession. It also wants £100 million, already identified by the government as assistance, to be used immediately to introduce short-time working across the sector, and for the government to act to protect agency workers from sacking without compensation.