{"id":19738,"date":"2020-01-06T15:52:48","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T15:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=19738"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:54:49","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:54:49","slug":"new-years-manufacturing-resolution-needed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=19738","title":{"rendered":"New year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manufacturing resolution needed"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Unite is insisting that g<\/span>overnment must take action if the gloomy start to the new year for UK manufacturing is not to <\/span>spiral downward further into <\/span>a gloomy decade<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manufacturing sector is suffering a rapid decline, with last week<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/span>s I<\/span>H<\/span>S Markit purchasing managers index<\/span> (PMI)<\/span> recording the <\/span>worst figure for factory output since 2012<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The worrying trend is reflect<\/span>ed<\/span> in recent comments by the Tata group<\/span>that it cannot keep funding losses a<\/span>t<\/span> its<\/span> Port Talbot steelworks, as well as in<\/span> PMI<\/span> data<\/span> show<\/span>ing<\/span> that<\/span> civil engineering<\/span>, which includes construction<\/span>, is <\/span>declining at a rate not seen since 2009<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

New figures<\/a> from the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) also show that UK car sales slumped to a six year low in response to Brexit and a fall in diesel sales.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In response to the manufacturing PMI figures, <\/span>Unite call<\/span>ed<\/span> on ministers to provide urgently needed assistance and long-term certainty <\/span>for the manufacturing secto<\/span>r<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Deeply worrying\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said<\/span>,<\/span> \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese figures are deeply worrying<\/span>. <\/span>While the roots of this can be traced back to decades of underinvestment and short-term profiteering, there is no doubt that the collapse of our <\/span>manufacturing<\/span><\/a> base today is a direct result of government failure.<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Over the past few years, UK m<\/span>anufacturing has suffered from a fall <\/span>in<\/span>investment,<\/span> the<\/span> transfer<\/span> of existing work <\/span>overseas, factory closures and<\/span> a subsequent loss of knowledge and skills. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Turner <\/span>blamed four years of political uncertainty, fears over a no deal Brexit and <\/span>the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u015b<\/span>complete failure to develop and <\/span>introduce a meaningful industrial strategy to intervene, invest and support UK Plc<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/span> for the decline.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adding that the<\/span> \u00e2\u20ac\u015binvisible hand of the market\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 will not resolve the situation, Turner called on the government <\/span>to secure a customs arrangement and frictionless trade with the EU, as well as specific support for individual sectors as part of a<\/span>n<\/span> \u00e2\u20ac\u015binterventionist industrial strategy\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sectors in need of support include<\/span> au<\/span>tomotive and steel, with the steelmaking sector under renewed focus after <\/span>comment<\/span>s<\/span><\/a> made yesterday (5 January)<\/span> by<\/span> chairman of the Tata <\/span>g<\/span>roup,<\/span> Natarajan Chandrasekaran<\/span>, who<\/span> said<\/span> Tata<\/span> can<\/span>not<\/span> keep funding<\/span> heavy<\/span> losses at<\/span>its<\/span> Port Talbot steelworks<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last year, Tata Steel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pre-tax losses amount to \u00c2\u0141371m<\/span>, while in 2017-18 the firm lost <\/span>\u00c2\u0141222<\/span>m<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite national officer for steel, Tony Brady, said <\/span>Chandrasekaran<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/span>comments should act as a wake-<\/span>up call<\/span> to the government<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Need action now\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015b<\/span>Perhaps now this <\/span>government<\/span> will listen to th<\/span><\/a>e pleas for investment in our <\/span>s<\/span>teel <\/span>i<\/span>ndustry to give our plants a fighting chance. We need action now<\/span>.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite has long advocated for the government to help <\/span>Britain<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s struggling <\/span>steel<\/span><\/a> sector, which is a <\/span>vital <\/span>foundation industry,<\/span> by reducing energy costs and business rates<\/span> for steel makers.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other<\/span> forms of assistance include<\/span> allaying custome<\/span>r <\/span>fears over tariffs and <\/span>ensuring UK steel is used in domestic infrastructure and manufacturing<\/span> projects.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said<\/span> the difficulties the steel sector is facing is part of<\/span> a<\/span> wider failure <\/span>by<\/span> the government to stand up for UK manufacturing. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Calling for a interventionist <\/span>industrial strategy<\/span><\/a> to bring UK Plc back to health, Turner said, <\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bA failure to take urgent action will result in manufacturing falling into a deep recession, thousands of skilled jobs, apprenticeships and opportunities for our kids being lost and those same families and working class communities so eagerly touted by Boris Johnson and the Tories during the general election, paying the ultimate price of their failure.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite is insisting that government must take action if the gloomy start to the new year for UK manufacturing is not to spiral downward further into a gloomy decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11206,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[55],"wps_subtitle":"Govt intervention call to reverse rapid manufacturing decline","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19738"}],"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=19738"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24796,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19738\/revisions\/24796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}