200 Wednesbury factory jobs are now 'at risk'

Car Parts Industries UK is poised to undergo restructuring, with union Unite saying jobs will be lost as a result.

But the firm, based in Western Way, said no decision had been made on the matter.

CPI refurbishes steering units and brake calipers for cars and vans for the used-parts market.

Unite today said that it had learned the bulk of the depot's work was to transfer to CPI's sister site in Poland.

Branch secretary Paul Agg said only 60 jobs would remain in Wednesbury. As of last year, 232 people were listed as working at the 135,000 sq ft site.

Mr Agg said: "This is another nail in the coffin for Wednesbury as over the years the town has seen a massive decline in industry – CPI being on land where the famous Patent Shaft Steel Works and Newmans Tubes once stood.

"The branch will do whatever is needed to support any of our union members based at CPI, and although the company is refusing us the right to be part of the negotiating procedure at this stage, that will definitely change when it comes to individual representation."

He said the company was due to launch a 45-day consultation with the workforce.

But CPI human resources director Adelle Joyce said there was no consultation surrounding redundancies. She said: "We have entered into discussions with the workforce regarding a potential restructuring of the business." She insisted no decisions had yet been made about the numbers of jobs that may be affected.

The CPI workforce in Wednesbury has grown from 75 in 2010 to 232 last year.

The 40-year-old business has sister sites in Poland, Belgium and Denmark.

Darlaston South councillor Doug James said it would be 'hugely disappointing' to lose any jobs and he wanted talks to take place between CPI and Unite to make the issue clearer.

"I know for a fact that many of the employees are from Moxley and Darlaston. I would ask the union and the company to contact me to facilitate talks between them and the Black Country Enterprise Partnership and Walsall's and Wolverhampton's regeneration teams," he said. "The key message is that we have been identified as a area of need under the Government's City Deal and help is available."