Support defence jobs plea

Growing frustrations with the government’s short term political decision-making have led Unite defence sector members to join with leading industry figures to discuss the growing frustrations at a special conference in Preston on March 21.

With 50,000 defence jobs lost in the last decade, and major government spending decisions looming, Unite says that the entire industry is at a crossroads – the wrong decisions could see the UK’s skills and capacity to support its own independent national defence programme destroyed.

The union will also be launching its campaign to press the government to keep UK defence spending in Britain as figures reveal that defence firms outside the UK are set to receive more and more of the UK’s defence budget, undermining British jobs and skills.

Analysts predict that as much as 25 pence in the pound of UK defence spend could be being spent in US factories by 2020 – over double the current amount of 12 pence in the pound.

Protecting jobs

Protecting jobs on the Successor submarine programme and Trident will also be on the special conference’s agenda with discussions from the day feeding into Unite’s submission to Labour’s defence review.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey will be among the leading figures addressing the conference.

“This sector is at a crossroads. Our members right across the industry – from nuclear, aviation and naval – are demanding to know that the decisions being taken by government are joined up, and that first and foremost they benefit UK jobs and communities,” said McCluskey.

“We are deeply concerned that this is not the case. There have been far too many short term decisions made for political purposes by this and other governments.

“With 50,000 defence jobs lost in the past 10 years, and major decisions on purchasing and development looming, it is high time that the government stopped using this workforce as a political football.

“Top of our agenda is to ask why UK taxpayers’ money will be used to support US defence jobs at the expense of jobs and communities here.  It is nothing short of a scandal that 12 per cent of our defence budget spending goes to the US now and that this will double in the next four years.”

“Spending our defence budget in the UK makes sound economic and defence sense, so we will be pressing the government to set out how it can do this and support Britain’s sovereign defence capability over the long-term.”

McCluskey added that this was also an opportunity for Unite members to feed into Labour’s defence review. He said, “We will be sending the same message to the Labour Party: support British defence jobs and communities and protect jobs on the Successor submarine programme and Trident.

“Unite’s defence members can be in no doubt whatsoever. We want answers on the investment in their future and will do everything in our power to protect and preserve their livelihoods.”