Massive job losses rock DHL workers

On the eve of the Chancellor’s speech to the country designed to map the nation’s recovery from the Covid-19 crisis, 2,200 workers involved in the production of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) vehicles are being told that they could lose their jobs.

Two in five of the entire workforce employed by DHL on the JLR logistics contract face redundancy, across full-time, salaried and agency staff on the contract.

The cuts will fall on all of JLR’s major factories in the North West and the West Midlands including Castle Bromwich, Ellesmere Port, Halewood, Hams Hall, Midpoint, Solihull and Tyrefort, will be affected by the proposed redundancies.

The 2,200 proposed redundancies comprise just under 40 per cent of the entire DHL workforce on the contract.

DHL has not given a firm date about when the redundancy process will be completed but has indicated that half of the job losses are a result of a decline in car production and half are as a result of anticipated ‘efficiency savings’.

 

“This is a massive, bitter blow for a dedicated workforce – and on the eve of the Chancellor’s speech underscores the urgency of need for jobs-saving action from the government,” commented Unite national officer for logistics Matt Draper.

“Again, while governments in Spain, France and Germany are acting swiftly to secure a future for their car manufacturers, we see no such ambition from the UK government and as a result jobs are going.

“Unite has not yet received any details of how DHL intends to make 50 per cent of the proposed redundancies through efficiency savings but we are making abundantly clear to DHL that they will not be able to force these workers to undertake impossible workloads as they show other workers the door.

“While DHL is the employer, the reality is that the workers perform their roles for JLR. JLR has a moral duty to ensure that workers are treated fairly and decently during this incredibly difficult and stressful time.

“DHL must not attempt to make permanent full-time staff redundant while continuing to outsource work to sub-contractors,” Draper added.

Unite says that it will ensure that the eventual number of job losses is kept to an absolute minimum.

By Barckley Sumner