Union says Jaguar Land Rover agency job losses are 'devastating'
Jaguar Land Rover's plans to cut 1,100 temporary agency workers jobs across its production sites has been described by a union as "devastating."
The Luxury car maker is reviewing all of its UK manufacturing sites, including its engine manufacturing centre at the i54 north of Wolverhampton where 2,000 are employed, following a pre-tax loss of £501 million in the three months to the end of March.
Car sales in the quarter were down 109,869 worldwide in the quarter as the coronavirus pandemic hit the business.
The Unite union says 400 jobs are at risk at the Solihull plant, but JLR has not said how many it is looking at shedding at each plant including Wolverhampton, Castle Bromwich and Halewood, Liverpool.
Agency Manpower will look to find other roles for the workers but if it is unsuccessful would make them redundant.
Unite national officer Des Quinn said: “This is a painful blow for a loyal workforce. Given the unprecedented drop in demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic it was all but inevitable that job losses would be announced.
“It is another devastating blow for our auto sector and the communities that rely on them for jobs. We urge the government to get on with delivering the urgently needed sector support package, as other countries such as France and Germany have done, so that we can stem the tide of redundancies."
“If workers are made redundant then Unite will ensure they receive everything they are legally entitled to.”
In a statement yesterday, JLR chief executive Sir Ralf Speth said: "Jaguar Land Rover’s early action to transform its business meant that as a company we were on track to meet our full-year expectations and operational and financial targets before the pandemic hit in the fourth quarter.
"We also reacted quickly to the disruption caused by Covid-19. Our immediate priority has been the health and wellbeing of our people – and this remains the case as we have now begun the gradual, safe restart of our operations."
The company will open a new battery assembly centre near Birmingham and will begin the manufacture of next-generation electric drive units at the engine manufacturing centre later this year.
