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21 January, 2002There are reports of a new jobs threat, however, at the European aircraft maker.
GREAT BRITAIN: Workers at the Airbus plants in Filton and Broughton have agreed to cost-cutting measures in an attempt to safeguard their jobs over the next two years. Orders at the European aircraft maker fell by one-third during 2001, and it is expected that sales will also fall far short of earlier predictions for 2002.
At the Filton factory - responsible for wing design, aircraft landing gear and fuel systems, component manufacture, and wing sub-assembly - a majority of the 1,200-strong workforce voted to accept a pay cut, a 35-hour workweek, no overtime, no wage increase this year and redeployment to other departments.
Workers at Airbus' Broughton plant, which manufactures aircraft wings, have agreed to a 35-hour, four-day workweek, and no overtime.
With this said, however, a new concern has come up regarding Airbus Military, a subsidiary of Airbus, and the possible setback for a huge defence project for 196 new Airbus 400M military transport planes, which was agreed by 8 European nations on December 18, 2001. It was reported that this 18 billion euro deal (nearly US$16 billion), said to be the largest joint venture so far in Europe's defence industry, could be in jeopardy after the German Parliament raised problems about Germany's pledge to buy 73, or well over one-third, of the A400M aircraft. Unions in the UK are seeking urgent talks with Airbus to find out if these reports are true, as thousands of jobs could be affected.
FEBRUARY UPDATE: It seems that the German Parliament finally agreed to stick to their pledge for the Airbus 400M military transport planes, however the Italian government has now said it is backing out of the project.
At the Filton factory - responsible for wing design, aircraft landing gear and fuel systems, component manufacture, and wing sub-assembly - a majority of the 1,200-strong workforce voted to accept a pay cut, a 35-hour workweek, no overtime, no wage increase this year and redeployment to other departments.
Workers at Airbus' Broughton plant, which manufactures aircraft wings, have agreed to a 35-hour, four-day workweek, and no overtime.
With this said, however, a new concern has come up regarding Airbus Military, a subsidiary of Airbus, and the possible setback for a huge defence project for 196 new Airbus 400M military transport planes, which was agreed by 8 European nations on December 18, 2001. It was reported that this 18 billion euro deal (nearly US$16 billion), said to be the largest joint venture so far in Europe's defence industry, could be in jeopardy after the German Parliament raised problems about Germany's pledge to buy 73, or well over one-third, of the A400M aircraft. Unions in the UK are seeking urgent talks with Airbus to find out if these reports are true, as thousands of jobs could be affected.
FEBRUARY UPDATE: It seems that the German Parliament finally agreed to stick to their pledge for the Airbus 400M military transport planes, however the Italian government has now said it is backing out of the project.