Car plant closure to jeopardise 100,000 UK jobs: union

20 February 2009

Britain's biggest union Unite, has warned the UK government of an imminent failure of a car plant, which will put nearly 100,000 jobs at risk and has asked Chancellor Alistair Darling to must move in quickly with major financial inputs to support the near collapse of the UK's auto industry.

Without naming the car plant or the manufacturer, Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, joint general secretaries of Unite, met the Chancellor to brief him on the impending doom of the British car industry and a car plant in the UK is near closure despite the government's £2.3 billion bailout package announced on 27 January. (See: Britain unveils £2.3 billion loan for car industry)

A spokesman for Unite said that the latest fear stemmed out of concern of that the car maker was about to close a plant amid declining sales and mounting losses, which could risk the jobs of 100,000 workers including suppliers.

The union leaders have now implored the UK government to open up its coffers and make about £13 billion available to the motor industry as the £2.3-billion bail out money was just not sufficient to help the beleaguered industry.

Immediately after the UK government announced the £2.3 billion bailout package to the motor industry, which experts called "a damp squib" as it imposed a ceiling of £250 million in aid with the bottom of the range starting from just £5 million for each car manufacturer. (See: UK's £2.3 billion auto aid inadequate)

Car manufacturers did initially welcome the aid, albeit cautiously, while Unite had sought £13 billion for car manufacturers and hundreds of component suppliers, pointing out to the steps by other European governments to help their car industry.