‘World class’ workers

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey will be meeting shop stewards at Ford’s Bridgend engine plant in Wales today (February 7), to update them on meetings aimed at securing the plant’s future with the boss of Ford Europe Jim Farley.

McCluskey will tell Unite reps that, while common ground was struck on the importance of the auto industry in Wales and wider UK, talks were still ongoing about cast iron assurances over jobs at the Bridgend plant.

Praising the workers as ‘world class,’ the Unite general secretary will pledge to work with Ford and other employers to secure the future of manufacturing in Wales. He will also outline Unite’s determination to work with the Labour-led Welsh Government to make sure the Westminster government’s industrial strategy delivers for Wales and the wider UK.

“The automotive industry is a vital source of decent secure jobs in Wales,” McCluskey said ahead of the meeting. “Our members at Ford need assurances that their high-skilled, highly-respected jobs which are essential to the prosperity of their communities and Wales as a whole will be secure post-Brexit.

“I have been talking to Ford’s European chief executive about the future of the Bridgend plant,” he added. “Unite will work with Ford and all industrial employers to secure the future of jobs and skills in Wales against the many challenges they face, not least from the government’s apparent determination to take Britain out of the single market.”

On working with the Welsh Government, McCluskey added, “The Welsh Government has taken pioneering action to protect workers’ rights and their ability to defend themselves against abuses at work by tabling the Trade Union (Wales) bill, which exempts Welsh public sector workers from the Westminster government’s Trade Union Act.

“I have every confidence in the Welsh Government’s ability to now take the industrial strategy set out by the prime minister and use it to implement a progressive and strategic plan to support manufacturing, including automotive and steel,” he noted. “Unite will work closely with the Welsh Government in achieving that aim including demanding any additional powers its needs to secure a bright future for manufacturing in Wales.”