'Fresh blow to car industry'

Unite has described the announcement that there will further job losses at JLR’s Halewood plant in Merseyside as a ‘fresh blow to the car industry’.

 

Unite understands that the redundancies are a result of the ongoing macro-economic uncertainty with slower than forecast rate of growth of the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport models that are produced at Halewood.

 

The job losses are a result of moving from a three shift system to a two plus shift system that will deliver flexibility efficiencies that longer term should benefit both employees and the company, which is set to come into effect from this April.

 

The job losses comprise a mixture of permanent employees and agency staff and accounts for over 10 per cent of the plant’s workforce. Unite has negotiated that the loss of the permanent employees will be through an enhanced voluntary redundancy scheme.

 

“This is a further blow to the UK car industry in general and to our members at Halewood in particular,” said Unite national officer Des Quinn.

 

“Unite will be ensuring that the commitment to limit job losses to voluntary redundancies is fully honoured,” he added.

 

“The challenges being faced at JLR are also being experienced by other UK car factories.

 

“The UK’s car industry has plummeted from being the jewel in the crown of the UK’s manufacturing sector in a few short years, directly as a result of government inaction,” Quinn went on to say.

 

“Until the government ensures that there is long-term frictionless trade and no tariffs  with the European Union along with meaningful investment in the infrastructure to ensure the success of electric vehicles, the UK’s car industry will continue to experience severe challenges.”