‘Trust the talents of people’

Unite is determined to fight for jobs and the future of UK car plants after it was confirmed today that Peugeot-owner PSA Group has bought GM’s European Opel operations for £1.9bn.

The sale has stoked fears that the two Vauxhall plants would face closure, but PSA Group boss Carlos Tavares said this morning (March 6) at a press conference that he did not foresee any closures and that he would honour commitments GM had made to the Vauxhall and Opel workforce.

“We do not need to shut down plants,” Tavares said. “We believe we need to trust the talents of people. They always come up with ideas and solutions we could not imagine … Shutting down plants is rather simplistic.”

Over honouring existing agreements with unions, Tavares said, “This is not tactical, this is ethics. If there is a deal, we will respect it.”

The PSA boss’s assurances imply that Vauxhall’s current production commitments would be maintained – meaning jobs would be safe until 2021 at Ellesmere Port with production of the Astra and until 2025 with production of the Vivaro.

But despite such assurances, PSA intends on making cost savings of nearly £1.5bn by 2026 in order to return Opel and Vauxhall to profit – and business analysts have said that to achieve these savings, jobs would have to be cut somewhere among the 24 PSA plants in Europe, especially as the plants are already running at overcapacity.

Long-term commitments

Unite generally secretary Len McCluskey told Sky News that assurances over the short-term future of Vauxhall were not enough – Unite is doggedly aiming for long-term commitments.

“The real issue is not the current products; it’s about the new models and we’ll be determined to make certain that the British plants have a long term future,” he said.

“The current model in Ellesmere Port goes up to 2020/2021 but really it’s this time next year, maybe the middle of next year, [when] we would need to secure acceptance of a new model there. That’s really the challenge for all of us.”

Vauxhall’s two plants in Ellesmere Port and Luton, directly employing around 4,500 workers, are among the most efficient car manufacturing plants in the world, which McCluskey highlights as proof that the plants should have a long-term future.

Commenting today (March 6) on the news, McCluskey said that he understood this has “obviously been a very difficult time for the workforce” but pledged that Unite “has been and will continue to work day and night to fight for their interests.

“Now that General Motors has disposed of its UK sites, our focus switches to working with the new owners to persuade them of the evident merits of our plants and this excellent, loyal workforce,” he said.

“I am determined that we can convince the new boss, Mr Tavares, that it makes sense for him to continue to build in Britain. Our plants are the most productive in the European operation, the brand is strong here, the market for the products is here, so the cars must be made here,” McCluskey argued.

McCluskey also said today that he had sought and received  urgent assurances from the PSA Group and General Motors as to their intentions towards the pensions of the UK workforce.

“It is vital that those who have saved hard for their retirement receive the benefits to which they are entitled,” he said. “Unite will not allow our members to lose out, not by a penny.”

Although GM’s European operations have not made a profit for more than a decade, GM chairman and chief executive Mary Barra said that they would have broken even this year if it had not been for Brexit, which caused the pound to plummet.

‘Highly productive workforce’

Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke pointed out that despite GM’s profit-losses, the Vauxhall plants were singularly efficient and the workforce had made massive strides in the last few years.

“The Astra share of the market has never been bigger,” he said on the BBC Radio 2 Jeremy Vine show this afternoon (March 6). “The reality is that we’ve got a highly productive workforce and Vauxhall workers at the UK plants turned around the situation a few years ago – they’ve done a fantastic job and now they deserve an opportunity to go beyond 2021.”

Brexit has emerged as a key issue in talks of Vauxhall’s future. That’s because 80 per cent of cars made at the Ellesmere Port plant are exported to the EU and three-quarters of its components are imported.

Former Lib Dem MP and business secretary Vince Cable explained why this was problematic, noting on Radio 4’s Today Programme that “there is one big doubt, which is the future of the customs union, the single market arrangements. Car components have to go backwards and forwards across frontiers and they will require tariffs and checks.

“Vauxhall particularly is exposed to this, about 80 per cent of its exports are to the European Union, most of its components are.

“The Germans are going to lobby very hard to protect their own plants, the German government bringing pressure to bear on France — those two countries staying within the European Union — it tips the balance against the UK, regrettably,” Cable warned.

Brexit uncertainty

McCluskey agreed that Brexit will create further uncertainty but added that there is “a role for government to play”.

“The uncertainty caused by Brexit is harming the UK auto sector,” he said. “Wednesday’s Budget is a perfect opportunity for the government to make is clear that it will preserve our trading arrangements and that it will invest for our auto sector’s future now beginning with assistance for the reshoring of components.

He also told the BBC that UK government should match any incentives the French or German government might give to support its auto sector.

“The government has talked about an industrial strategy, but now it has to demonstrate that it’s more than just words,” McCluskey noted.  “We have to make sure that there are proper government-led commitments.”

“We need every assistance from the government to give this sector a fighting chance,” he added.  “That absolutely includes committing now to securing access to the single market and customs union.  This is the signal that the car industry needs in order to know that the UK government values this sector.”

At the time of writing Unite members in Luton and Ellesmere Port are meeting.

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