(Dumbarton)
(Lab): ...We are talking not just about small
companies, important as those are, but about household names such
as Debenhams, Shearings Holidays, Rolls-Royce, British
Airways and OVO Energy. The job losses are in their thousands and,
unfortunately, it looks as though there will be more to
come...
(Renfrewshire South)
(SNP):...Like many MSPs in the west of
Scotland, I have been contacted by constituents who are deeply
concerned by developments at Rolls-Royce. The situation there is a
direct consequence of the collapse in the civil aviation
industry. There are grave concerns about the threat of the loss
of 9,000 jobs globally and as many as 600 or 1,000 jobs at the
Inchinnan plant. I have written to the minister, , urging the Government to do
all that it can to support employees at the site and engage
constructively with Rolls-Royce.
It is vital that the jobs are
retained, and not only for the sake of the site at Inchinnan.
Those individuals are highly skilled, and we must retain their
talent and skill sets, as they will be essential in meeting many
of our key strategic objectives. Those individuals have the kind
of skills that we will require if we are going to meet our
climate change obligations. Ultimately, if engagement
with Rolls-Royce proves to be
fruitless, it is imperative that the Scottish and UK Governments
engage with employees to ensure that they are redeployed and
repurposed so that we retain their enormous talent and
skill...
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