4:00pm Thursday 5th February 2009
By Simon Carr
FORD is to axe almost half its Southampton workforce, the Daily Echo can reveal.
Up to 500 jobs will go at the Swaythling Transit plant and those remaining will be hit with a pay freeze.
The devastating bombshell was due to be announced to the company’s 1,100 workers at a mass meeting this morning.
Initially Ford will be looking for volunteers but it is feared that too few staff may take up this option so compulsory redundancies could be on the cards.
The Daily Echo also understands that a pay deal worth nearly ten per cent over three years, agreed between Ford bosses and union negotiators, has been scrapped just days before workers at the plant were to be balloted on it.
These decisions were discussed at a toplevel meeting last night between Ford of Europe boss John Fleming and union leaders and comes into affect on May 5.
Remaining workers will stay on a single shift pattern that could cost them £300 a month in lost bonuses and allowances.
The first sign of question marks over the Swaythling factory came in July last year when the Daily Echo exclusively published a leaked company memo revealing the future of the plant was under review.
In September Ford confirmed plans to slash output from 75,000 vehicles a year to just 35,000 chassis cabs, cut jobs and export production of the iconic Transit to Turkey.
The Daily Echo also understands plans for the new model Transit, including the chassis cab proposal, may be put back a year until 2012.
Alan Whitehead, Labour MP for Southampton Test, said: “This is very bad news for the workers and Southampton but I know that initially Ford is hoping to make these redundancies voluntary as opposed to compulsory.
“Ford insists that while it has pushed back its chassis cab plans it will still be going ahead with it and that it just means Southampton will be able to hang on to the Transit for a bit longer.”
His party colleague John Denham, MP for Southampton Itchen, added: “This is obviously bad news for Southampton and Ford workers and their families in particular.
“I spoke to John Fleming, president of Ford of Europe yesterday and he promised me the company would be reconfirming their commitment to the long-term future of the Ford plant in Southampton and in particular the commitment to construct chassis cabs for the new Transit model.”
He went on to say everybody wanted the plant to win more business and every effort was being made to keep vehicle manufacturing in the city.
Eastleigh Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne said: “This is a devastating hammer blow, not just for the Ford workers and their families but for the Southampton economy.
“I think in these tough times it is essential the government do everything it can make credit available for those who want and need to buy vans or we are going to see more job cuts.”
The jobs bombshell comes a week after Ford recorded global losses of £10.2bn in 2008 – the worst in its 105-year history.
Royston Smith, Southampton City Council, Cabinet member for economic development, said: “We are clearly disappointed that Ford is making people redundant at this time, and our heartfelt sympathies go out to the factory workers and their families.
“We have been working closely with Ford and other agencies over the past few months to support the workers to develop their skills and to find suitable alternative employment in the region.
“We are still confident that with the continued investment we are seeing in the city that some of the workers may find alternative local manufacturing jobs, and we will be contacting our partners to seek reassurance on this. We will continue to work with Ford to retain the plant in the city and secure jobs for the future.”
Ian Woodland, regional officer for the Unite union, said: “I am appalled at the news. It will be a shock to all our members. All the uncertainty and suspicions we’ve had have been confirmed.”
Last night Ford would only confirm that a meeting between Ford bosses and union chiefs was taking place at the company’s Dunton plant in Essex.
A spokesman said: “The meeting is being held between senior European management at Ford and national and regional union officers.
“It is related to the current economic downturn and actions that may have to be taken as a result of that.”
When asked if job cuts were being considered the spokesman said he was unable to comment until an official announcement was made to its staff.
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