A ‘horrible blow for staff’

Rolls-Royce’s announcement today (Wednesday August 26) that it is planning to close aerospace sites in Barnoldswick, Lancashire, and Annesley, Nottinghamshire, and move work abroad has been condemned by Unite.

Rolls-Royce has two sites in Barnoldswick, Bankfield and Ghyll Brow, employing around 730 people. The company is considering incorporating Ghyll Brow into Bankfield as well as discontinuing production of wide chord blades for newer Trent engines in the town by 2023, putting 350 jobs at risk on top of 200 redundancies announced in June.

Around 120 staff work at Rolls-Royce in Annesley, with the company planning to transfer all activities to Derby and Germany by 2022 and offer staff the opportunity to relocate.

“These plans are a horrible blow for staff, particularly as Rolls-Royce is proposing to abandon production in the UK and move work to Singapore and Germany,” commented Unite national officer for aerospace Rhys McCarthy.

No stone unturned

“Unite will leave no stone unturned to prevent these sites being closed and jobs being moved abroad,” he said.

“For Rolls-Royce to lay out plans to lay off the majority of staff at its Barnoldswick sites while moving work to Singapore is a complete betrayal of a skilled and loyal workforce. In 2009, staff were assured that the production of Trent engine wide chord blades would continue at Barnoldswick despite another plant being opened in Singapore – an assurance we now know was not worth the paper it was written on,” he explained.

“While Unite will be holding Rolls-Royce to its statement that staff at Annesley will be offered transfers to Derby, the union will ensure that Rolls-Royce considers all possible options to keep Annesley open and retain jobs in the town.

“There is no use in trying to deny that the coronavirus pandemic has not had a devastating impact on air transport and by extension the aerospace sector.

“Yet in other countries steps have been taken to ensure their post-pandemic futures and to protect jobs. Yesterday, the German government confirmed that it will be extending its short time working scheme, its version of the UK’s job retention scheme, until March 2022.

“If a similar scheme, in which the wages of workers working less hours are subsidised by the government to prevent vital personnel and skills being lost, was adopted in the UK, the risk of job losses at Rolls-Royce, and many other companies, would be minimised,” he concluded.

By Ryan Fletcher