Three
union leaders are to fly to Zurich today in a bid to save thousands of jobs under
threat following the decision to close Vauxhall’s Luton plant, says the UK’s Daily
Mirror newspaper.
Citing Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) general secretary Bill Morris,
the newspaper says that the union will not rest until “this act of industrial
vandalism is stopped” so the Luton plant does not “die”.
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Employees at the plant – returning from a four-week extended shutdown – are
reported to be feeling betrayed after having accepted pay cuts in return for
a commitment by Vauxhall’s parent company General Motors to produce the Vectra
replacement at Luton from 2002. They believe that the plant is closing because
it is both quicker and cheaper to sack British workers.
Morris, AEEU boss Sir Ken Jackson and MSF union chief Roger Lyons are to meet
General Motors Europe head Mike Burns, accusing the company of breaking a promise.
Lyons told the newspaper that if Burns cannot or will not reverse the decision,
then the union leaders will fly to GM’s headquarters in Detroit.
A protest rally in Luton next Saturday is expected to attract up to 20,000,
says the Daily Mirror.
