Financial News
- 23 January 2013, 15:01
Rolls-Royce Job Cuts: Union Says 400 Face Axe
Aerospace firm Rolls-Royce has confirmed it is in consultation over job cuts at one of its plants, after a union said nearly 400 workers are at risk.
Rolls-Royce sent an internal memo to its staff to detail its proposals, according to the Unite union.
The plan puts 378 defence jobs at risk at its Ansty plant, near Coventry, Unite said - nearly half of its 800-strong workforce.
The union blamed defence spending cuts by the Government and said Rolls-Royce was planning to shut the plant in the next few years.
Rolls-Royce said in a statement: "We are in consultation with trade unions over reductions in our defence workforce at Ansty.
"We hope to achieve this without compulsory redundancies."
The firm said its civil aerospace business in Ansty was not affected by the plan.
Ian Waddell, Unite's national officer for aerospace and shipbuilding, said: "The blame for the loss of these highly skilled jobs in the key defence sector lies with the Government and its short-sighted determination to ram through massive spending cuts in the defence budget.
"Once again, Unite calls for a coherent defence industrial strategy to be drawn up as matter of urgency to safeguard jobs and a defence industry at which Britain excels.
"This is vital - otherwise more high-skilled jobs will be lost, perhaps forever.
"There is a very long timescale for consultation and implementation, so we hope that compulsory redundancies will be avoided."
Mr Waddell added that "work from Germany will be transferred to Rolls-Royce's site at Bristol".
He said bosses at Rolls-Royce had acted "fairly" by giving as much notice as possible to the staff of the company's plans.
The 200-acre Rolls-Royce site at Ansty employs about 800 people and handles the refit and repair of both aeroplane and marine engines.
Components for the company's Trent series of civil aviation engines are also manufactured on the site.
what do you think?
Jim Ford
Roll-Royce continues with its asset stripping! The Ansty plant was originally the Armstrong Siddeley factory that RR swallowed up, so I guess RR will sell of the land the factory is on and make a tidy profit, like they did with the De-Havilland plant at Leavesden. The Leavesden incident was particularly ugly as it was a vigorous and viable plant that unfortunately sat on valuable land near London. It was bought off the MOD for a song and sold on for housing and the Warners Film Studio. RR announced the factory closure on the same day and at the same factory meeting as the deal for the land purchase was announced. I was there at the meeting and can still hear the laughter at the sheer bare-faced cynicism of the deal - though you wouldn't expect workers that had been told they would be unemployed to laugh! I guess Bristol - the old Bristol Engines factory will be next!
Brian Holmes
When these jobs go the skills will be lost forever. No going back. No hopes for a bright future. Our aerospace industry is about to go the same way as our shipbuilding industry. We are a nation in terminal decline.
blue side
Agreed
Jim Ford
When RR Leavesden closed (it at one time employed 4000 people) the 'pipeline' of what was at one time 100+ apprentices a year was closed and those that were training them dispersed, mostly to non-related jobs. One highly skilled toolmaker I knew became a school caretaker. I was a quality engineer and took a job as a school science technician. The Government bangs on about apprenticeships, but there's now no-one to train them! Because of rising costs in China, there's talk of brining work back here - but who's going to do it?
Chris Robinson
UNITE should start balloting their members immediately right through the industry. In fact, the TUC have already agreed to look at the practicalities of a general strike against ALL the cuts anyway so this should start being put into place. None of these cuts are necessary. Not while big business is sitting on £750bn in their bank accounts and wealthy tax dodgers are evading tax to the tune of £125bn per year. Not to mention the £300bn we've all given to the greedy banks. It's pure lies to say this country is broke. The Tories are using this 'deficit' to make the cuts they've always wanted to make.
james mcbride
lol spending cuts by the government! that is harsh, the raf has hardly any planes, and has not b ought any large amounts since ww2. 400 platforms approx with chair force of 40,000 persons.
blue side
6:50pm on 22/1/2013
The news is about 5000 service personnel being made redundant what Government seems to miss is that add to them the others being made redundant in the defense industry and the number compounds
Rob Unstable
7:26pm on 22/1/2013
Add al reduncies and lack of job opportunities combined with rising tides of immigrants - the government is to blame...