‘Helpful’ meeting

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey held talks in Paris over the future of the Vauxhall plant in Ellesmere Port this morning (January 22) with the car maker’s French owner PSA group.

McCluskey met with PSA boss Carlos Tavares to press the case for further investment in Ellesmere Port to protect jobs.

The meeting comes after PSA announced earlier this month a further 250 job losses at the plant in Cheshire, in addition to the 400 job losses announced last year. The company will seek to mitigate the impact of job cuts through voluntary redundancies.  The job losses were part of a programme, the carmaker said, to “accelerate the recovery of plant productivity” as it moves staff from two production shifts to one.

Tavares has reiterated his commitment to maintaining production of the Astra model at Ellesmere Port now and in the future. McCluskey called the meeting with Tavares this morning “helpful” and said it was a “frank exchange and are now clear on our respective positions.

“Carlos Tavares repeated his desire not to close UK plants, which is reassuring,” he noted. “He also talked of working with Unite to construct a roadmap for future operations in the UK, again encouraging.

“On behalf of Unite, I repeated our determination to safeguard the UK plants and if needs be our willingness to disrupt PSA’s UK market share if the company fails to support this loyal workforce.”

Tavares highlighted after the meeting that Unite’s support to “rebuild the Vauxhall industrial footprint” was “essential”.

McCluskey agreed that the union and carmaker can work constructively together but he emphasised the challenge Brexit uncertainty would pose for the company.

“That is why I will also be pressing the business secretary Greg Clark, to ensure that the UK government does all it can to create the climate for PSA investment,” McCluskey said. “I will be seeking a meeting with the secretary of state on this as soon as possible because there is no time to lose. The three parties – PSA, Unite and the UK government – must work together now to give our plants a future.”

Central to Unite’s plan for a sustainable future for Ellesmere Port is bringing production of a new car model to the plant.

‘It’s got a great case’

“It’s got a great case,” McCluskey said in a comment published in the Liverpool Echo today. “It has always been one of the most efficient plants in Europe. And here is the thing – the company sells more of its cars in the UK than in any other of its markets.

“Vauxhall has consistently held a high proportion of the UK car market. Its market share ranged from around six to nearly 14 per cent between 2014 and 2017, and it enjoyed the second highest car sales in the UK in 2015,” he added. “The share slipped throughout 2017 – a reflection of our stagnating economy – but it’s still healthy.”

Unite has vowed to protect the 1,800 jobs at Ellesmere Port as well as the 4,500 Vauxhall jobs in the wider UK.

Last year, PSA Group, which makes Peugeot and Citroen cars, bought Vauxhall from General Motors for £1.9bn – a move which Unite warned must not threaten the future of UK plants.

Both McCluskey and Tavares said talks between Unite and PSA would continue.