Union concern over Vauxhall job losses report
UNION bosses today called for a meeting with the new owners of car maker Vauxhall amid reports in Germany that 1,400 jobs would be cut in the UK.
Tony Woodley, the leader of the Unite union also called for the European Commission to investigate the takeover of GM Europe by Canadian auto parts group Magna, which will receive billions of pounds in state aid from the German government.
He claimed the deal was a “disgraceful political stitch-up” and would eventually lead to the closure of both Vauxhall plants at Ellesmere Port and Luton, with the loss of 5,500 jobs.
He said: “We need to get Magna back round the table – this is a wake-up call for Britain. I am very concerned about the long term future because without investment in the plants they will close.”
He said the EC needed to probe the deal between the German Government and Magna, which will limit the number of job cuts at Opel plants in Germany.
The report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, citing a leaked Magna plan, says there will be 11,000 job cuts across Europe.
Last week on a visit to the Ellesmere port Plant, which has just started production of a new Astra model, Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged to support Vauxhall and said he hoped to persuade Magna to invest in a new electric car facility there.
