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11 May, 2000Ford has announced it will quit car production at its 70-year-old Dagenham plant in east London.
GREAT BRITAIN: Ford Motor Company announced today, May 12, that by early 2002 it will cease car production at its huge Dagenham complex. The unions expect that over half the current workforce of approximately 9,000 at the east London plant will be cut. This includes redundancies announced earlier this year, to take place in August, when Ford will change to a one-shift operation.
The company, which claimed that overcapacity in the European market as well as the strong British currency against the euro was behind their decision, will reportedly switch production of the new Fiesta to Germany and turn over diesel engine manufacture to Dagenham, which will bring in about 500 jobs.
Although Ford of Europe recorded £600 million in losses in 1999, the last two years saw Ford UK making a profit of £410 million. With regard to Ford's total European sales, the UK accounts for 28 per cent, which is more than in Germany and Spain put together.
According to the Manufacturing, Science and Finance union, as Ford workers in Britain cost an average £10.72 per hour, compared with their German counterparts at £16.54, they believe the relatively low cost of laying off workers in the UK is behind Ford's decision to cut jobs in Dagenham. The union is calling on Ford to build an alternative vehicle in Dagenham. With Volvo, Mazda and Aston Martin part of the Ford family, they say that "new models from any of these could easily be built in British plants."
The largest UK union in the car industry, the Transport and General Workers' Union, reacted very angrily to Ford's decision, saying that "without car assembly it will be too easy for Ford to take all their operations out of Dagenham, with the loss of thousands of jobs in Ford and in the surrounding community." Jobs in supporting engineering plants at other UK locations are under threat as well, as they depend on work at Ford Dagenham.
Trade union officials will be meeting next week to work out their response to the crisis. Some have warned that strike action cannot be ruled out.
The company, which claimed that overcapacity in the European market as well as the strong British currency against the euro was behind their decision, will reportedly switch production of the new Fiesta to Germany and turn over diesel engine manufacture to Dagenham, which will bring in about 500 jobs.
Although Ford of Europe recorded £600 million in losses in 1999, the last two years saw Ford UK making a profit of £410 million. With regard to Ford's total European sales, the UK accounts for 28 per cent, which is more than in Germany and Spain put together.
According to the Manufacturing, Science and Finance union, as Ford workers in Britain cost an average £10.72 per hour, compared with their German counterparts at £16.54, they believe the relatively low cost of laying off workers in the UK is behind Ford's decision to cut jobs in Dagenham. The union is calling on Ford to build an alternative vehicle in Dagenham. With Volvo, Mazda and Aston Martin part of the Ford family, they say that "new models from any of these could easily be built in British plants."
The largest UK union in the car industry, the Transport and General Workers' Union, reacted very angrily to Ford's decision, saying that "without car assembly it will be too easy for Ford to take all their operations out of Dagenham, with the loss of thousands of jobs in Ford and in the surrounding community." Jobs in supporting engineering plants at other UK locations are under threat as well, as they depend on work at Ford Dagenham.
Trade union officials will be meeting next week to work out their response to the crisis. Some have warned that strike action cannot be ruled out.