{"id":10171,"date":"2016-10-12T10:49:36","date_gmt":"2016-10-12T09:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=10171"},"modified":"2016-10-13T12:23:15","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T11:23:15","slug":"govt-must-engage-with-unite-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=10171","title":{"rendered":"Govt must engage with Unite now"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite has warned that investment decisions by major carmakers on the production of up to 15 new models in the UK are \u00e2\u20ac\u0098hanging by a thread\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 unless the government secures tariff free access to the European single market.<\/p>\n

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According to the Unite report \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Brexit on our terms\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, talk by government ministers of a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Hard Brexit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and the uncertainty surrounding the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trading relationship with Europe could deter carmakers from investing in their UK plants and see production move to Europe on models due to come in to production after 2020.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe UK car industry is the most productive in the EU. Yet the uncertainty of Brexit could seriously compromise the continued resurgence of this world class industry,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Unite general secretary Len McCluskey.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bDozens of decisions, including new models to UK plants, must be made in the coming months. These crucial investment decisions will determine the future of the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s car industry. Ministers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 mixed signals on tariff free access to the single market, which consumes 80 per cent of the cars we produce, could leave our world class industry hanging by a thread,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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The report by Unite, which represents over 500,000 manufacturing workers, highlights the key investment decisions which are due over the next two years on new car models ranging from the Honda Civic to the Range Rover Sport.<\/p>\n

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It also warns that suggestions by some ministers to revert to World Trade Organisation (WTO) tariffs of 10 per cent on exports and 4 per cent on imports would damage a resurgent car industry and decent manufacturing jobs.<\/p>\n

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According to the report, hundreds of thousands of jobs in the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manufacturing and automotive industry would be at risk because of European exports and a reliance on a European wide supply chain which benefits from tariff free access to the single market.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhile many workers voted to leave the EU, they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do so to be out of work or see their living standards suffer and rights at work torn up through a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Hard Brexit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said McCluskey.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s commitment to an industrial strategy is welcome, but it will not get out of the starting blocks unless our manufacturing sector receives tariff free access to the single market and the assistance and commitments it needs to invest in a Brexit Britain,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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David Bailey, professor of industry at Aston University explains in the report, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAutomotive and engine assemblers like General Motors, BMW and Ford all import sizable inflows of components to the UK from other European Union operations.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnything which puts these trading relationships at risk, whether currency risk or higher transaction costs from having to deal with EU and UK regulations separately, reduce the likelihood of further investment.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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The report also lays out Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blueprint to protect UK manufacturing jobs, investment and employment rights. In addition to tariff-free access to the single market, which is worth a massive \u00c2\u0141229bn to British manufacturing, these include:<\/p>\n

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Article 50 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c The government must not rush to invoke Article 50 before a clear British negotiating position has a mandate from the people with a vote in parliament.<\/p>\n

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Workers shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pay the price for Brexit \u00e2\u20ac\u201c In addition to protecting workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights the government must support infrastructure and bring stability to manufacturing by creating a strong, stable internal market supported by public sector procurement.<\/p>\n

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A seat at the table for workers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c As the collective voice for over 1.4m people, Unite has a unique voice which must be central to the negotiations for Brexit.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe urge the government to engage with Unite now on the assistance urgently needed to support jobs, communities and a meaningful industrial strategy for this country,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said McCluskey.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bGovernment ministers must also outline a clear negotiating position which is open to democratic scrutiny by opposition parties and trade unions before triggering Article 50,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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The full \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Brexit on our terms\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 report can be viewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite has warned that investment decisions by major carmakers on the production of up to 15 new models in the UK are \u00e2\u20ac\u0098hanging by a thread\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 unless the government secures tariff free access to the European single market.   According to the Unite report \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Brexit on our terms\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, talk by government ministers of a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Hard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10177,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[486,386,55],"wps_subtitle":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Hard Brexit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 could leave UK car industry \u00e2\u20ac\u0098hanging by a thread\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10171"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10173,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10171\/revisions\/10173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}