Staff at Ford's Swaythling Transit plant are 'kept in the dark'

12:10pm Saturday 25th October 2008

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ANGRY workers stormed out of Southampton’s Ford plant last night complaining they are being kept in the dark.

About 40 walked out of the factory an hour before their shift was due to end, marking the second walkout in one week.

The protests come after the motor giant announced plans to slash output from 75,000 vehicles to just 35,000 chassis cabs, cut jobs and export Transit production to Turkey.

Workers and unions claim if the plant is reduced to this level it will spell the beginning of the end for the factory.

One worker told the Daily Echo: “We have had a gut full.

We are not being told anything and that is why we are doing this.” Another said: “We can’t work with this uncertainty, not knowing if we are going to have jobs. Ford decisions are not made in weeks – they are made in years. They know what they are going to do.”

A third said: “Bosses aren’t interested in speaking to us, the unions or the MPs. They are going to do what they like.”

Yesterday’s protest follows one at midday Monday in which more than 100 downed tools and walked out.

Workers on the earlier shift also blamed bosses for not giving them enough information about the future of the plant.

A Ford spokesman said: “We won’t know the exact number of workers who walked out for days.

“I would reiterate that this is very disappointing and distracts from the real issue about the best way to make Southampton a profitable plant.”

The first sign that there may be question marks over the future of the plant was in July when a leaked company memo revealed it was under review.

Since then 125 short-term workers have been put out of a job and a pay deal between the unions and senior management ended in failure.

Unite union national officer Dave Osborne said the pay deal was rejected because the company refused to commit to a long-term future for its seven UK plants.