From the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20983462
"Honda is planning to cut 800 jobs at its Swindon plant, blaming weak demand across Europe. The Japanese carmaker, which began manufacturing there in 1992, has been hard hit by the eurozone crisis."
The Socialist Party and National Shop Stewards Network offer pull support to those workers at risk and will do everything possible to stop this offensive against the jobs of working people. More news will follow.
http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/15956/14-01-2013/swindon-1100-honda-job-losses
ReplyDeleteSwindon -1,100 Honda job losses
Workers at the Honda car plant in Swindon were shocked when the company announced 800 job losses on the 10 January.
This figure was widely reported in all the news channels and newspapers. I spoke to a worker at Honda who told me that the number of jobs due to be cut is in fact 1,100, divided equally between production line workers, administration staff, and workers on temporary contracts.
This amounts to almost a third of the workforce. Honda appears not to be telling the whole truth, trying to hide the full extent of their planned cuts.
Only last September the company announced that it was investing an extra £267 million in the Swindon plant and planning to increase the production of the new Civic from 183,000 a year in 2012 to 250,000 within three years.
A company spokesperson was quoted then as saying: "Sales in the UK are up 10%, so we are in a strong position.
"Europe is not quite so good, but is holding up". In reality there has been a dramatic drop in sales of vehicles in Europe due to the recession, down from 17 million to 12 million.
In southern Europe, where Honda has concentrated its efforts, the decline has been even more drastic.
The Unite union branch at the plant is meeting shortly to draw up a campaign against the job cuts.
Domenico Hill, South West Shop Stewards Network