Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, have begun to ballot
for industrial action as part of a campaign to save the historic
Rolls-Royce plant at Barnoldswick in Lancashire.
The iconic site, which is the cradle of the jet engine, has been
owned by Rolls Royce since 1943.
In August, Rolls-Royce announced that it was off-shoring the
production of its Trent Engines blades, which are made at the
plant, to Singapore, with the loss of 350 jobs.
Ballot papers began to be sent out today Tuesday 29 September and
the ballot will close on Friday 16 October. Should the workforce
vote in favour of industrial action, strikes could begin in early
November.
According to Unite, the workforce feels betrayed by Rolls-Royce
and that their long-standing goodwill has been abused. When the
Singapore factory was established in 2009, the company offered
assurances that work from Barnoldswick would not be transferred
and in a further insult, the Barnoldswick workers were required
to train the Singapore workforce.
In recent years, Barnoldswick workers have accepted changes to
shifts and terms and conditions and hundreds of voluntary
redundancies, in order to remain financially viable. Furthermore,
at the beginning the pandemic they also agreed to a 10 per cent
cut in pay.
Prior to the announcement of the compulsory redundancies, the
Unite reps at the factory were working on proposals to introduce
short-time working to save jobs at no cost to the employer but
the company’s announcement destroyed the possibility of this
job-saving proposal.
The resulting job losses will mean that just 150 workers will be
left at Barnoldswick, raising questions about its viability. Over
the last 12 months there have been over 350 jobs lost through
voluntary severance. Two years ago Rolls Royce employed over
1,150 people at Barnoldswick.
The proposed job losses and threat to the factory has created a
huge backlash in the town, with shops, community groups and local
MPs actively backing the union’s campaign to save the factory.
Unite regional officer Ross Quinn said: “Industrial action is
never taken lightly but our members will not allow this historic
factory to close without a fight. The workers feel totally
betrayed by Rolls-Royce’s management.
“This site is the heart and soul of jobs in this area, so the
whole town is behind the campaign to keep the factory not just
open but with a long term viable future.
“Rolls-Royce has been a vital part of this town for nearly 80
years and plays a key role in underpinning the local economy.
"As the cradle of the jet engine, the workers and the wider
community will not let that heritage simply disappear and we're
determined to persuade Rolls-Royce to act honourably.
“Rolls-Royce made cast iron commitments when it opened its
factory in Singapore that work at Barnoldswick would not suffer
and the workforce rightly believes that these commitments must be
honoured."
Unite assistant general secretary for manufacturing Steve Turner
said: "Unite has been working with employers’ federations,
devolved governments and cross party MPs to drive the government
to do more for this industry so that employers like Rolls-Royce
do not eye up overseas alternatives.
"For months we have championed short-time working as a way to put
stability into the industry and to save the skills which are at
the heart of this community.
"Now, with the government’s job support scheme, Rolls-Royce needs
to step back from the brink, reverse this decision, invest in its
loyal UK workforce and preserve blade production at
Barnoldswick.”
