Car workers walk out after Vauxhall announces 241 job cuts

Car maker Vauxhall, which is owned by Peugeot parent company PSA, announced plans to axe 241 jobs at its Ellesmere Port car plant in Cheshire, this afternoon.

It follows 400 job cuts last year and another 250 earlier this year.

Angry staff staged a walkout this afternoon in protest after hearing of the latest rationalisation.

The plant produces the successful Astra model, which is exported throughout Europe.

PSA Group said the latest cuts are due to falling sales.

It insisted the restructuring was “critical” to ensure the site survives.

And it added that the move was not related to the UK’s Brexit vote.

Many car makers have warned that they could decrease production at their UK plants if there was a ‘bad’ Brexit deal.

Although last night Jaguar Land Rover confirmed it had awarded the latest Range Rover Evoque model to its Halewood plant in Speke, as part of a £1bn investment in the UK.

Trade union Unite has called for assurances on the future of Ellesmere Port, which it said has suffered job cuts of 60% in recent years.

Vauxhall said today: “At a National Joint Negotiation Committee meeting held on Friday 23rd November, the company announced a proposal for business restructuring to align headcount and production costs with the 2019 production forecasts and plans.

“The 2019 plan encompasses site compression, implementation of new technologies and other transformation activities which will impact on headcount requirements.

“This restructuring requires a planned phased reduction in headcount by 241 heads during 2019

“This restructuring is critical to ensure that the Ellesmere Port plant develops its competitiveness during this difficult time within the industry.

“The restructuring is necessary to make it a competitive plant when compared to the benchmark.

“The company confirmed that it remains committed to achieve this essential restructuring without having to utilise compulsory redundancies.”

It said staff would have the option to transfer to the company’s Luton site.

The company has started a 45-day consultation with unions and workers.

One worker said staff had walked out in fury on hearing the news. They said: “It sounds absolutely barbaric.”

PSA Group, which owns Peugeot and Citroen, bought Vauxhall in 2018.

Unite regional coordinating officer Mick Chalmers said: “Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port workers have made huge sacrifices and worked hard to ensure the car maker recently returned to profit for the first time in two decades.

“Further job losses will come as a sickening blow for them and their families in the run up to Christmas and will further heighten the anger over the uncertainty surrounding the future of the plant.

“Unite will be offering our members maximum support and pressing for guarantees of no compulsory redundancies

“Unite will also be seeking urgent assurances and continue to press for PSA to remove the uncertainty surrounding the plant by committing new models to Ellesmere Port beyond 2021.

“PSA should be clear. Unite will not tolerate the death by a thousand cuts of Ellesmere Port and will leave no stone unturned in securing the future of the plant and its skilled workforce.”