Unite, the UK and Ireland automotive industry union, has described the announcement that 1,100 agency workers at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) factories will lose their jobs as "more devastating news for the UK's automotive communities".
The union said the workers, employed by the Manpower agency, work principally on the car production line.
"The job losses are a result of a sharp decline in car sales as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic," the union said.
The union said it understood there would be around 400 job losses at the Land Rover/Range Rover plant at Solihull with the remaining job losses spread around other JLR sites in the West Midlands and on Merseyside.
Manpower would now seek to find other work for affected contractors but, without success, they will be required to make them redundant.
Unite claimed it had successfully ensured affected workers were furloughed at the beginning of the pandemic but was now concerned the delay in a sector support package was "propelling" companies to shed workers.
It is expected that the workers will leave JLR at the time of the annual summer shutdown.
Unite national officer Des Quinn said: "This is a painful blow for a loyal workforce.
"Given the unprecedented drop in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was all but inevitable that job losses would be announced.
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"It is another devastating blow for our auto sector and the communities that rely on them for jobs. We urge the government to get on with delivering the urgently needed sector support package, as other countries such as France and Germany have done, so that we can stem the tide of redundancies.
"Unite will ensure that the affected workers are fully represented and assisted during this difficult and stressful period. If workers are made redundant then [we] will ensure they receive everything they are legally entitled to."
