{"id":14569,"date":"2018-02-05T14:31:04","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T14:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=14569"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:59:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:59:10","slug":"block-bid-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=14569","title":{"rendered":"Block the bid call"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Unite has called on the House of Commons business, energy and industrial strategy committee to insist business secretary Greg Clark reviews Melrose\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s debt fuelled takeover bid of GKN, which has stoked fears that thousands of jobs could go as the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s national security is compromised.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The call came on Sunday (February 4) ahead of a meeting later this week between Clark and Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s GKN reps, who will urge the business secretary to use powers under the Enterprise Act (2002) to block Melrose\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s predatory bid.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As UNITElive reported last week<\/a>, given GKN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s involvement in aerospace used by the military, the government does have the power to intervene in the public interest under national security considerations.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner explained that the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bshort-term financial engineering\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 of Melrose\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bid is \u00e2\u20ac\u015bis totally at odds with the long term approach and investment that is needed to power the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s industrial strategy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBecause of GKN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s extensive defence work the bid also raises serious questions about UK defence interests and capability,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he highlighted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAimed at turning a quick buck there is a real danger that if the bid is successful long term investment will dry up, leading to cuts in research and development and the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s defence capability being harmed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lobby<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Turner said that when Unite reps meet with Clark on Wednesday (February 7) they will ask the business secretary to intervene to block the bid and will also lobby for stronger takeover laws to ensure public and social interests are put first.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe business secretary cannot duck his responsibility,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bHe needs to act in the national and public interest and block this bid which will ultimately result in parts of successful engineering being atomised and vital engineering skills and expertise lost.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Unite GKN reps met with a West of England joint committee on Friday (February 2) to press their case on a local level.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The committee is a combine of the four unitary authorities, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset, along with Bristol mayor Marvin Rees and West of England mayor Tim Bowles.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bGKN is a major engineering business and a world leader in motor manufacturing, aerospace, and defence,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Unite regional coordinating officer for the south west Steve Preddy, addressing the committee.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe Filton site employs 1,600 people, with the highest skills sets and engineering expertise producing high quality products for blue chip companies like Airbus and Boeing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bGKN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Western Approach site employs hundreds more at one of the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most advanced composite materials\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 wing production sites,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe aerospace sector in the south west is the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s largest. Some 17,000 people are employed across numerous direct and supply chain companies. Barely a town or constituency in the region is left untouched by this profoundly important sector of our economy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bGKN is a large investor and stakeholder in the national composite centre here in our region, having invested \u00c2\u014130m into Airbus\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 future wing development.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is critical that GKN remains in place as a supporter of all these projects to help secure a strong local economy and future employment in our world leading aerospace sector,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Preddy went on to say.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe alternative is Melrose, which has stated openly that it will look at jobs and sites as disposable assets to fund shareholder dividend returns, removing growth opportunities for our region and its aerospace cluster at a stroke.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Speaking to UNITElive afterwards, Preddy said Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meeting went \u00e2\u20ac\u015breally well\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Support<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe had unanimous support from both the Bristol and West of England mayors and across the three main political parties,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere was consensus across the board of the dangers the takeover could pose to national security, to jobs and to the area\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economy.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Preddy explained that after the meeting, Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees and West of England mayor Tim Bowles agreed to write to business secretary Greg Clark on behalf of councillors in the region to press their case against the takeover.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite will continue to put \u00e2\u20ac\u015bpressure on all fronts\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, Preddy noted. He said that in addition to meeting with business secretary Greg Clark, Unite will also be lobbying regional MPs so that a question over the takeover is hopefully tabled in the Commons sometime this week.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are pleased about the level of support we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re getting not only from cross-party politicians but also from employers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c from GKN itself of course but also from businesses across the sector,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Preddy said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s recognition that the takeover could have a domino effect across the supply chain \u00e2\u20ac\u201c aside from shareholders not interested in the long-term health of the sector, no one stands to benefit from this takeover.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Find out more and help Unite in our campaign to save jobs by asking your MP to oppose the takeover here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite has called on the House of Commons business, energy and industrial strategy committee to insist business secretary Greg Clark reviews Melrose\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s debt fuelled takeover bid of GKN, which has stoked fears that thousands of jobs could go as the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s national security is compromised.   The call came on Sunday (February 4) ahead of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[624,867,865,690],"wps_subtitle":"GKN: Clark urged to act amid mounting fears","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14569"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14569"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26412,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14569\/revisions\/26412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}