{"id":11570,"date":"2017-02-24T13:50:43","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T13:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=11570"},"modified":"2017-02-27T10:30:52","modified_gmt":"2017-02-27T10:30:52","slug":"relatively-positive-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=11570","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Relatively positive\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite general secretary Len McCluskey met with Peugeot boss Carlos Tavares this morning (February 24) to press the case for maintaining the two Vauxhall plants in Ellesmere Port and Luton and the tens of thousands of jobs dependent on the business, in the latest update on a potential takeover of the UK General Motors (GM) affiliate Vauxhall by Peugeot-owner PSA Group.<\/p>\n

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McCluskey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meeting with Tavares was the latest in an explosive story that took everyone by surprise, as it emerged last week that GM was in talks with PSA to sell its European operations, known as GM Opel, which includes Vauxhall.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMr Tavares gave assurances that current production commitments would be met should the takeover with PSA go-ahead,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey said of the meeting, which he described as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098relatively positive\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was also heartening to hear that PSA group wants to work with Unite and recognises the skill and efficiency of our members who make the world class Astra and Vivaro vans,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bGoing forward both Unite and PSA have agreed to work together and engage constructively as developments unfold.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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It is understood that Tavares\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 assurances on production commitments would mean that production of the Astra at Ellesmere Port would be guaranteed until 2021 and production of the Vivaro car in Luton would be maintained until 2025.<\/p>\n

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McCluskey was also reported as telling Reuters that \u00e2\u20ac\u015b[Tavares] talked in terms of not being here to shut plants. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not his nature.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Just as McCluskey met with Tavares, Unite rep John Cooper, who is also the UK Vauxhall European Works Council rep, met with other GM Opel EWC reps in Germany and together they agreed to the same set of principles.<\/p>\n

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Work constructively<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Among them was an acknowledgement that PSA has committed to working constructively with the workforce and running Opel\/Vauxhall as an independent company. The GM EWC also agreed that they would press GM to fulfil all agreements and commitments necessary for the success of the sites and the future company.<\/p>\n

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Business analysts have speculated that at least some of the 24 plants comprising a future PSA-GM Opel merger may close, and the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s two Vauxhall plants in Ellesmere Port and Luton are thought to be vulnerable given the economic realities of an impending Brexit.<\/p>\n

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But since news of the potential sale, Len has repeatedly pledged that Unite will not accept a single job loss \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the two Vauxhall plants are extremely efficient and despite most of their cars being shipped to mainland Europe, the UK is still Vauxhall\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s largest single market.<\/p>\n

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But securing a successful future for the Vauxhall plants and workforce means the UK government must also step in, Len pointed out.<\/p>\n

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Business secretary Greg Clark is set to meet with Tavares today (February 24) as well, but McCluskey yesterday expressed disappointment that prime minister Theresa May only spoke to Tavares on the phone and did not meet him in person.<\/p>\n

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McCluskey urged May to pledge to give \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe same, if not more, backing for the UK plants as the German and French leaders have given their workforces.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need our government batting hard for our workers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

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McCluskey is set to meet with over 100 Unite reps in Ellesmere Port, Luton and Toddington on Monday (February 27) to report back fully on his meeting with Carlos Tavares.<\/p>\n

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A draft agreement between GM Opel and PSA over the potential takeover is expected to be signed before the Geneva Motor Show, which begins on March 9.<\/p>\n

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Stay tuned on UNITElive for the latest Vauxhall updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey met with Peugeot boss Carlos Tavares this morning (February 24) to press the case for maintaining the two Vauxhall plants in Ellesmere Port and Luton and the tens of thousands of jobs dependent on the business, in the latest update on a potential takeover of the UK General Motors (GM) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[230,386,694,686],"wps_subtitle":"GS presses PSA boss to keep Vauxhall jobs","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11570"}],"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=11570"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11571,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11570\/revisions\/11571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}