Ford Halewood electric drive investment strongly welcomed

Unite has strongly welcomed the announcement on October 18 that Ford will build its new electric drive units at its factory in Halewood, Merseyside.

“This investment is excellent news for the highly skilled workforce at Halewood as it secures the future of the plant,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said. 

“It is absolutely imperative that the government does not see this investment as a one off but supports similar schemes to ensure the entire UK automotive industry experiences a smooth transition in the move to build electric vehicles.”

Unite understands that the new electric drive units will be installed in both the company’s passenger and commercial vehicles. The majority of the new investment is being provided by Ford but the government has also provided financial support for the project.

The investment will protect between 500 jobs at the Halewood plant and there is the prospect of between 400–700 jobs being created.

Unite national officer Des Quinn said: “The union has been working behind the scenes to ensure that the jobs of our members at Halewood were protected.

“Unite is absolutely dedicated to protect the jobs, pay and conditions of all our members and is working to ensure that similar projects are adopted throughout the UK’s world class automotive sector.”

Unite is also campaigning to ensure that the government rapidly improves the infrastructure regarding rapid electric charging points in order to make it far easier for consumers to transfer to electric vehicles.

By Barckley Sumner