Two unions have urged British consumers to avoid buying Peugeot and Citroen cars to protest at the French car maker’s plans to close the Ryton plant near Coventry.
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Reuters said the the appeal, made in advertisements in national newspapers, comes as workers at Peugeot Citroen’s Ryton factory protest against the launch of the (French-built) new 207 model – the car they say spells the end of their factory at a cost of 2,300 jobs.
Workers facing redundancy reportedly criticised the French car giant for what they called an insensitive nationwide launch of the new model.
Amicus and the Transport and General Workers’ Union told the news agency they had begun a nationwide campaign of adverts in the press and on boards appealing to the public and union members to back British workers and boycott Peugeot and Citroen cars.
“We believe that the wider British public will want to send a powerful message to companies like Peugeot that are prepared to close profitable and productive plants here in the UK and lay off loyal, skilled and hard working employees,” Derek Simpson, Amicus general secretary, told Reuters, adding: “A drop in sales will really hit them where it hurts.”
Reuters noted that PSA, battling with sluggish sales in its main markets in western Europe, said in April it could no longer afford to carry on investing in the Ryton plant due to high costs.
The report said Thursday’s demonstration by workers at a Peugeot Citroen dealership in Coventry, near the doomed PSA Ryton plant, will be part of a wider campaign to put pressure on the car group to discuss alternatives to closure of the factory which is slated for 2007.
Reuters added that British prime minister Tony Blair on Wednesday said Peugeot Citroen executives should consider union proposals to keep the plant operating, although he acknowledged it was up to the company as to its final decision.
Blair reportedly said steps had already been taken to ensure that anyone make redundant would be giving as much support as necessary.
In a statement released on Thursday afternoon, PSA said: “PSA Peugeot Citroen is surprised and disappointed by the trade union’s announcement.
“On Monday 5 June the union members at Ryton voted decisively against industrial action and as such there is no justification for these measures. This action also fails to take into account the interests of the 5,000 PSA Peugeot Citroen employees in the UK who will continue to be employed after the closure of the Ryton plant and whose jobs could be placed at risk by this unjustifiable action.
“The group’s focus is firmly on our employees which is why we have invested GBP5m in helping to retrain Ryton employees and to help them to get back to work and believe that this is a far more relevant use of money”.
