A delegation of workers from Jaguar’s doomed Browns Lane car assembly plant in Coventry will join local members of parliament Bob Ainsworth and Jim Cunningham to lobby Ford on Wednesday at the press launch of the new Focus at the Paris motor show.
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Jaguar unions – the T&G and Amicus – are campaigning against the closure of Browns Lane and the loss of 1,150 jobs across Jaguar, announced by Ford last Friday.
The unions claim their members are paying with their jobs for the mismanagement of Jaguar, despite Browns Lane being one of the most productive plants in the parent Ford group worldwide.
Union members at Browns Lane voted on Tuesday to back a ballot for industrial action to save the plant. The lobby is due to take place at 3.30pm French time (1:30pm GMT).
Amicus general Secretary Derek Simpson said: “We will take our fight wherever and do whatever it takes to get Ford to reverse their decision. Browns Lane is among the most productive and highest quality car plants in the Ford group and our members there do not deserve to lose their jobs.”
T&G general secretary Tony Woodley said: “Ford need to realise just how serious this is. Jaguar’s decision to move production from Browns Lane will not only be devastating for our members but will undermine trust in agreements at Ford. It won’t work for the business or for the unions and Ford need to think again.”
“Jaguar has been synonymous with the success of Coventry,” said MP for Coventry South Jim Cunningham. “Ford need to know that they cannot go around unilaterally breaking agreements because they’ve hit a bad patch in the trading cycle. When a company enters into an agreement with its workforce and unions it should honour it.”
