Luton workers urge Lord Mandelson to save Vauxhall van jobs as sale draws closer

3 July 2009

Ahead of the visit to the Luton IBC van plant today (Friday, July 3rd), Unite is urging Lord Mandelson to back Britain's leading white van manufacturer - and save the thousands of jobs depending on it not just in Luton but across UK auto manufacturing.

The call comes as GM Europe continues to seek an investor to take a major stake in the company, with Magna, the Canadian components company emerging as possible buyer. The future of the Luton plant has been thrown into question by the sale even though it is one of the most productive plants in the GM family.

With Lord Mandelson set to tour the plant and meet the workforce, Unite is repeating its call to the UK government to do all it can to defend Vauxhall and IBC jobs. Workers will present Lord Mandelson with a model of the Vivaro, the van made at the plant, which, in its nine year lifespan, has won the coveted Van of the Year title six times.

Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary for Unite, said that it was vital that the uncertainty about the plant's future was soon ended: "With workers at the Luton plant extremely worried for their futures they will be pleased that a government minister is coming to see for themselves the pride this workforce has in the product it makes make.

"Clearly we need to make progress on an investor in GM Europe so that we can safeguard this plant. But it has to be the right buyer with the right vision, and a pre-requisite of any sale must be that UK jobs are protected."

Rob Weir, a senior Unite shop steward at the Luton plant, added: "This plant is one of the most productive and efficient in Europe. We set the benchmark which other plants must follow and we are a brilliant advert for British manufacturing.

"So what we want to hear from Lord Mandelson today is that the UK government is 100 percent behind us and 100 percent engaged in securing the Luton plant's future. If decisions are made on sound commercial and economic logic, then there should be no doubt that this plant will thrive and continue to be Britain's premier van builder."

The Luton IBC van employs 1450 employees, provides work for a further 500 in-house contractors and supports another 4000 or so jobs across the components and supply chain.

Workers at the plant are so determined to win a future for it that they have launched their own campaign to mobilise the community behind the message "We're backing Luton". The workers will be taking their campaign to the streets of Luton and the main towns around the plant in the coming weeks to build public support.

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