ROLLS ROYCE WORKERS DESERVE CLARITY ON FUTURE

Calls have been made for urgent clarity on job losses at Rolls-Royce – and a promise to sit round the table with workers and unions to plot a way forward.  

 The company announced plans for 9,000 redundancies worldwide but have left UK workers – including those at the Inchinnan plant – in the dark about where and when the axe might fall.  

The Renfrewshire site employs hundreds directly and hundreds more in supply chains and local businesses, and any reduction in jobs would be a blow to the Renfrewshire economy.  

But so far management have refused to consult with unions and workers about the plans, which could result in job losses at sites across the UK.  

MP Gavin Newlands, whose constituency covers the plant, will continue to engage with the company and the unions as he has done on a regular basis in recent weeks, and called for management to rethink again on their plans. 

Gavin said: 

“The workforce at Inchinnan deserve better than the rumour and conjecture that have swirled around since the management’s announcement of job losses. 

“Unions across Rolls-Royce have consistently offered to work alongside the company to find a way through the current situation, and it’s completely unacceptable those offers have been ignored by management. 

“I also understand that the company have failed to make full use of the various government support schemes in place to help business through the Coronavirus pandemic which makes their announcement of job losses in the near future completely bewildering. Situations like this are exactly why these schemes were set up.  

“Moreover, the fact that it is always the UK workforce that bears the brunt of any Rolls Royce “restructuring” is a little galling when the company holds its hand out for UK Government R&D funding. It’s also more than galling that the company seems to be attempting a British Airways style raid on the terms and conditions of those loyal workers lucky enough to survive the cuts. 

“The Inchinnan plant has a well-deserved reputation for high-quality, highly efficient output exported around the world and it would be crazy for Rolls-Royce to throw that global reputation for excellence away.  

“For years the workforce at Inchinnan have shown loyalty to the company, and that loyalty must be repaid by management – at the very least they deserve clarity on Rolls-Royce’s plans and real, meaningful engagement on what the future holds.”