{"id":16991,"date":"2019-01-15T16:52:38","date_gmt":"2019-01-15T16:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=16991"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:57:48","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:57:48","slug":"norfolks-transport-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=16991","title":{"rendered":"Norfolk\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s transport woes"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

New years are supposed to be about positive new starts, however in Norfolk<\/span> job loss announcements<\/span> that began in 2018 continued<\/span> into 2019<\/span> after another of the <\/span>region<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/span>s<\/span> major manufacture<\/span>r<\/span>s<\/span> declared<\/span> on<\/span> 10<\/span>January<\/span> that it <\/span>intends to<\/span> leav<\/span>e<\/span> the county<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The news that <\/span>Norwich\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Heatrae Sadia <\/span>is<\/span> consulting staff over a<\/span>move to Preston<\/span>, <\/span>with the loss of 200 jobs<\/span>,<\/span> is the freshest<\/span> blow t<\/span>o<\/span>Norfolk<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/span>s economy,<\/span> which was <\/span>already reeling <\/span>from the prospect of<\/span>5<\/span>00 job losses <\/span>that will occur later this year <\/span>when<\/span> Unilever<\/span>,<\/span> Britvic<\/span>and the Construction Industry Training Board <\/span>(CITB)<\/span> also leave.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Norfolk\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s run of bad luck has led to questions over whether <\/span>the county\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s neglected<\/span> transport<\/span> network could be to blame and<\/span> speaks to issues suffered by many of the <\/span>UK<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rural areas more generally. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite regional officer <\/span>Steve Harley described the job losses at water heater manufacturer <\/span>Heatrae Sadia<\/span><\/a>, which<\/span> has<\/span> operated in Norwich for 99 years, as a \u00e2\u20ac\u015bhammer blow\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/span> to<\/span> Norfolk\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economy<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015b<\/span>Norwich can ill-afford to lose more highly skilled manufacturing jobs, especially with the uncertainly over Brexit and given that Norfolk is a predominately rural county.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cruel<\/i><\/b> news<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015b<\/span>We will be strongly questioning why the production of the water cylinders and electric water heaters would be moved to Preston.<\/span> This is cruel news for our more than 80 members at this company. We will be giving maximum support to our members and their families at this difficult and very challenging time<\/span>.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Th<\/span>e<\/span> announcement follows on from the news that Britvic and Unilever, producers of the iconic <\/span>Colman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Mustard<\/span><\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c <\/span>made<\/span> in the Norwich for 200 years \u00e2\u20ac\u201c<\/span> are closing their sites by the end of 2019<\/span> and moving production to Burton on Trent.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the CITB <\/span>has told its 200 Norwich headquarters staff that they will have to relocate to <\/span>York<\/span> if they wish to keep their jobs<\/span>, with the possibility of some staff being transferred to its other sites in Newcastle, Blackpool, Warrington and Newport in Wales<\/span> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c effectively making them redundant. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The workers<\/span>,<\/span> most of whom have worked at the <\/span>CITB<\/span><\/a> for many years<\/span>,<\/span>are employed in roles including: human resources, finance, procurement, technology<\/span>, <\/span>apprenticeship processing and some customer operations roles, were told <\/span>in <\/span>November<\/span> that their jobs will be transferred to Shared Service Connected Ltd (SSCL) from February 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Betrayed<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Unite regional coordinating officer Mark Robinson said<\/span> t<\/span>he CITB<\/span> had betrayed its<\/span> staff <\/span>in its quest to save money through outsourcing. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe CITB\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s board\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s abject failure to require SSCL to open a Norfolk office demonstrates a complete disregard for its workers.<\/span> The vast majority of the workforce have families and it will be impossible for them to relocate<\/span>,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Robinson said. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAt a time when major outsourcers such as <\/span>Carillion<\/span><\/a> have collapsed, Interserve is on life support and many organisations are insourcing their services; it is flying in the face of reason for the CITB to be undertaking a major outsourcing project.<\/span> This has nothing to do with improving services and is all about political dogma.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

O<\/span>utsourcing by private and public organisations<\/span>,<\/span> and the subsequent race to the bottom on pay and terms and conditions<\/span>,<\/span> has hit workers across Britain wherever they live.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

However it is just one of the issues impacting <\/span>rural<\/span><\/a> regions such as Norfolk, <\/span>Unite regional officer Har<\/span>l<\/span>ey explained. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI<\/span>n general Norfolk<\/span>,<\/span> being a very rural area<\/span>,<\/span> suffers immensely from the cuts to public transport networks, with many people feeling isolated and in some cases trapped within their locality. <\/span>T<\/span>he area suffers from a lack of investment in the road network and the A47 in particular is no longer fit for purpose<\/span>,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015b<\/span>I even deal with employers, such as Bernard Matthews<\/span>,<\/span> who have two production sites in rural areas who struggle to recruit staff due to a lack of available labour, resulting in having to run their own transport (contract buses) from places such as Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Har<\/span>l<\/span>ey believes that accessibility is one of the main reasons that manufacturers such as<\/span> Unilever<\/span>, Britvic<\/span> and<\/span> Heatrae Sadia<\/span> are leaving <\/span>Norfolk<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015b<\/span>Increased road and rail networks would definitely help<\/span>,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015b<\/span>When you look at the main spine of the country north to south, the road networks are relatively good. Going east or west of that and the network isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t up to standard.<\/span> Look at the A11, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s recently been dualled but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still not fit for the amount of traffic travelling along there.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No<\/i><\/b> reason<\/i><\/b> to<\/i><\/b> pack<\/i><\/b> up<\/i><\/b> and<\/i><\/b> go<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Although there are major problems with Norfolk\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/span>transport<\/span><\/a> network, Harley is clear that it is still no<\/span> reason for firms to<\/span> just<\/span> pack up and go.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He said, <\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf companies are trying to use the excuse of accessibility to leave Norfolk, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d tell them to look at Bird\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Eye in Lowestoft. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the firm\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only manufacturing facility in the UK and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s based right on the most easterly point.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPerhaps we need to be asking these firms what<\/span> it<\/span> is Bird\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Eye<\/span> is\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>doing, and what are they prepared to do to stay here, that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re <\/span>not?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>I<\/span>t also appears to be a case that many businesses within Norwich and the outlying towns, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to have the will or foresight to look in to utilising airfreight out of Norwich Airport.<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

T<\/span>h<\/span>e issues that <\/span>Norfolk<\/span> is<\/span> run<\/span>ning<\/span> up against<\/span> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c under investment in infrastructure, the running down of public services<\/span> and<\/span> the outsourcing of jobs <\/span>as part of <\/span>a <\/span>economic model<\/span> that prioritises short term profits<\/span> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c <\/span>are shared in many rural areas<\/span> and have a common o<\/span>rigin: The Tories dogmatic <\/span>adherence to the policies of <\/span>austerity<\/span><\/a><\/a> and unrestrained capitalism.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Norfolk\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s run of bad luck has led to questions over whether the county\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s neglected transport network could be to blame and speaks to issues suffered by many of the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rural areas more generally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[924,817,522,342,687],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16991"}],"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=16991"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17005,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16991\/revisions\/17005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}