In the week that the world's leaders gathered in Glasgow to agree
action to combat the climate emergency, Unite, the UK’s
leading union, slammed the planned closure of the GKN
Birmingham car component plant as a failure to seize an
opportunity to support UK manufacturing on the road to
a carbon neutral economy.
The union said it was a ‘betrayal of a highly skilled
workforce’.
The 500-plus workforce at GKN Birmingham are set to lose their
jobs next year. The highly-skilled workforce now feels it
has little option but to accept a redundancy scheme offered
by GKN Melrose after the company refused to reconsider the
union's plan to save the plant despite the government’s
request for it to do so.
Unite assistant general secretary said: “Melrose’s shameful
decision to close the last UK plant operated by GKN
automotive in Erdington betrays not only the 519 workers at
the factory but leaves a gaping hole in the UK supply chain
as Melrose seeks to increase profits by exporting manufacturing
operations to Poland.
“Melrose is very happy to take UK taxpayers' money to support the
research and development of new electric drive systems, but when
it comes to supporting the workers and communities who give
them that money with manufacturing work,
disgracefully they run away.
“With the world’s leaders gathered at the COP26 climate
summit, our government should be leading from the front.
That means no more soundbites and rhetoric but an industrial plan
and genuine support for UK based manufacturing to reduce our
carbon footprint.
“In the meantime, Erdington and 519 skilled workers are open for
business, looking for a manufacturer to take over the
plant and build here in Britain the products that
are urgently needed to green our economy, investing in
jobs and communities as well as our planet."
The Chester Road factory currently produces drivelines for
cars, with its primary customer being Jaguar Land Rover, which
has plants at nearby Castle Bromwich and Solihull.
Unite, alongside the plant's management and local
politicians, created a highly detailed business plan setting
out how the Birmingham plant could and should be at the
heart of the green industrial revolution.
The site was in pole position to produce the new propulsion
units required for electric cars but GKN Melrose dismissed this
proposal out of hand. Instead, in a move that is entirely against
the drive to a carbon neutral future, the GKN work is to be
moved to Poland, a country heavily dependent on coal power
to generate electricity. Products now made in the UK will
then have to be transported from there, a round trip of
approaching 2,000 miles.
GKN has been owned by venture capitalists Melrose since 2018.
At the time of the company’s purchase Unite warned that the
company would be asset-stripped and UK jobs would be
lost.
Unite national officer Des Quinn said: “For 10 months our members
at GKN have fought hard to save this plant but it is apparent
that GKN Melrose was never prepared to reconsider its original
decision.
“Having failed to get Melrose to change its mind, the government
must not fail the GKN workers again. The government must play a
dynamic role in finding a company to take over Chester Road and
save as many jobs as possible in the process because these are
the skills our country needs if we're to step up to the demands
of climate action."
