{"id":22919,"date":"2020-07-27T16:43:10","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T15:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=22919"},"modified":"2020-07-27T16:43:11","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T15:43:11","slug":"govt-support-must-come-now-alexander-dennis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=22919","title":{"rendered":"‘Gov’t support must come now’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Up to 650 job losses at bus maker Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) sites at Guildford, Scarborough and Fife are a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098devasting blow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for workers and their communities, Unite said today (July 27).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unite said it is working with the ADL to minimise redundancies, which are part of a restructuring by the bus makers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Canada-based parent firm NFI Group Inc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union called on the government to bring forward plans to get 4,000 new green buses on the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s roads to prevent job losses amongst the firm\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 2,500 strong workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the situation in Scotland, Unite regional officer Willie Thomson said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is devastating news for workers at Falkirk and Larbert, and for their families, as Alexander Dennis announces the potential for massive jobs losses across their UK sites. We believe these actions are premature and urge the company to continue to explore all options to protect jobs and livelihoods. We stand ready to work with them to achieve this. COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the bus industry with the collapse of new orders from operators due to the crisis.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere has been promises of support from both the Scottish and UK Governments,” he added. “That support must come now. The Prime Minister promised 4,000 green buses in February. Workers in Falkirk and Larbert are ready to build them. We need Boris Johnson to deliver his promise.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe also call on the Scottish Government to do more to support the world class manufacturing bases at Falkirk and Larbert. The Alexander Dennis workforce has a crucial role to play in a cleaner and greener future for both our economy and our communities. We will be fully engaging with the company in the coming weeks and we will do all we can to save these jobs. Each job is a worker, a family effected, and they shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be the ones to pay the price for this crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the national picture, Unite national officer Steve Bush said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is a devastating blow for Alexander Dennis workers and their communities. Unite will be doing everything possible to support our members at this difficult time and we will be working with ADL to ensure the company explores all possible avenues to minimise redundancies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe coronavirus pandemic has impacted the automotive sector greatly,” Bush added. “However, ADL is in a good position to take advantage of the need to reduce the carbon footprint of the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s passenger transport network. Unite is clear ADL must not impact its future operating capacity by cutting jobs opportunistically for the sake of short-term savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government also has its part to play,” Bush went on to say. “This month Boris Johnson reiterated that \u00c2\u01413bn will be allocated for 4,000 green buses to be built. Those plans must be activated as soon as possible to save jobs and get the UK on the road to cleaner public transport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs Unite has made clear in correspondence with minister for transport Grant Shapps, the easiest way to achieve this would be for the government to purchase the buses directly from manufacturers. The government could then lease them to the bus operators, many of whom are delaying orders because their cash flows have been impacted by the lockdown.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Ryan Fletcher and Andrew Brady<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Up to 650 job losses at bus maker Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) sites at Guildford, Scarborough and Fife are a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098devasting blow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for workers and their communities, Unite said today (July 27). Unite said it is working with the ADL to minimise redundancies, which are part of a restructuring by the bus makers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Canada-based parent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1308,1],"tags":[202,1295,55],"wps_subtitle":"Bus maker Alexander Dennis job losses \u00e2\u20ac\u0098devastating blow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22919"}],"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=22919"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22923,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22919\/revisions\/22923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}