Britain and Ireland’s largest union, Unite demanded an urgent
meeting with Melrose bosses after news emerged of plans to close
GKN’s King’s Norton plant by March 2021 with the loss of over 200
jobs. Unite described news of the planned closure of the facility,
which makes canopies and windows for military and civilian planes,
as coming ‘totally out of the blue’ and warned that it flew it the
face of assurances Melrose bosses had given to the UK government
during the hostile takeover...Request free trial
Britain and Ireland’s largest union, Unite demanded an urgent
meeting with Melrose bosses after news emerged of plans to close
GKN’s King’s Norton plant by March 2021 with the loss of over 200
jobs.
Unite described news of the planned closure of the
facility, which makes canopies and windows for military and
civilian planes, as coming ‘totally out of the blue’ and warned
that it flew it the face of assurances Melrose bosses had given to
the UK government during the hostile takeover of GKN last
year.
Commenting Unite national officer Rhys McCarthy
said: “This announcement has come totally out of the blue for
GKN’s world class King’s Norton workforce who have worked hard to
make GKN a success.
“Melrose has serious questions to answer about its commitment to
retaining work in the UK and keeping the promises it made to the UK
government during its hostile takeover of GKN.
“Unite has real fears that this announcement is the prelude to
concerns we voiced - about asset stripping and UK operations being
run down during Melrose’s hostile takeover of GKN - being
realised.
“Early next week Unite will be convening an urgent summit of all of
its GKN representatives where we will be discussing our next
steps.
“Unite is demanding an urgent meeting with senior Melrose bosses
and will be scrutinising the business case for these plans, which
appear to fly in the face of assurances given around keeping
military aerospace manufacturing in the UK.”
