Linamar factory to close
Freedom Press | 09.07.2010 16:39 | Other Press | Workers' Movements
Workers at the Swansea factory who, along with the anarchists, rallied in support of the sacked Visteon workers last year look like they will be following suit with the closure of the South Wales manufacturing plant and the loss of all existing jobs.
Linamar plans to close the factory, which produces high precision car components, by the end of the year with the loss of 208 jobs. This comes two years after they took over the plant from Ford-Visteon with a commitment to invest in its future. Within a year it had already halved the workforce and is now set to cut all links with Wales and move production elsewhere.
Before the announcement bosses at Linamar had re-assured workers that they had secured new engine work from Ford supplying its massive engineering plant in nearby Bridgend. Angry workers now believe that Linamar, the second biggest auto-parts company in Canada, was only interested in securing the work from Ford, work which is to be transferred to the German plant.
The factory itself has had a long history of militant strike action. Originally built in 1960 for fridge manufacturer Prestcold, the plant was acquired by Ford in the mid-1960s before being transferred to Visteon, a car parts manufacturer spun out as a separate company with UK factories in Enfield, Basildon and Belfast. It was with the closure of these Visteon sites early in 2009, and the sacking of the entire UK workforce, that Linamar workers rallied in support, with union convenor and militant trade unionist Rob Williams being sacked for his solidarity work on behalf of the Visteon workers.
On hearing the news of his dismissal the Linamar workers immediately downed tools and walked off the job threatening an ‘all-out’ indefinite strike forcing management to back down and re-instate Williams. Workers feared Williams’s dismissal was a deliberate act to undermine the confidence of the workforce in an attempt to ease the closure the factory. Around 140 workers have been made redundant in the previous six months.
As one union representative said at the time, “Visteon farmed out Swansea to Linamar because they were worried the workforce would not take mass lay-offs lying down. Linamar sweetened the pill with big redundancy settlements for the first lot to go. Now it looks like they want to go in for the kill.”
Production will cease by the end of the year after a 90 day ‘consultation period’ between management and unions. It is unclear how the workers will respond, and if Linamar will honour its pension commitments to the workers the way Visteon failed to do.
http://www.freedompress.org.uk/news/2010/07/09/linamar-factory-to-close/
Linamar plans to close the factory, which produces high precision car components, by the end of the year with the loss of 208 jobs. This comes two years after they took over the plant from Ford-Visteon with a commitment to invest in its future. Within a year it had already halved the workforce and is now set to cut all links with Wales and move production elsewhere.
Before the announcement bosses at Linamar had re-assured workers that they had secured new engine work from Ford supplying its massive engineering plant in nearby Bridgend. Angry workers now believe that Linamar, the second biggest auto-parts company in Canada, was only interested in securing the work from Ford, work which is to be transferred to the German plant.
The factory itself has had a long history of militant strike action. Originally built in 1960 for fridge manufacturer Prestcold, the plant was acquired by Ford in the mid-1960s before being transferred to Visteon, a car parts manufacturer spun out as a separate company with UK factories in Enfield, Basildon and Belfast. It was with the closure of these Visteon sites early in 2009, and the sacking of the entire UK workforce, that Linamar workers rallied in support, with union convenor and militant trade unionist Rob Williams being sacked for his solidarity work on behalf of the Visteon workers.
On hearing the news of his dismissal the Linamar workers immediately downed tools and walked off the job threatening an ‘all-out’ indefinite strike forcing management to back down and re-instate Williams. Workers feared Williams’s dismissal was a deliberate act to undermine the confidence of the workforce in an attempt to ease the closure the factory. Around 140 workers have been made redundant in the previous six months.
As one union representative said at the time, “Visteon farmed out Swansea to Linamar because they were worried the workforce would not take mass lay-offs lying down. Linamar sweetened the pill with big redundancy settlements for the first lot to go. Now it looks like they want to go in for the kill.”
Production will cease by the end of the year after a 90 day ‘consultation period’ between management and unions. It is unclear how the workers will respond, and if Linamar will honour its pension commitments to the workers the way Visteon failed to do.
http://www.freedompress.org.uk/news/2010/07/09/linamar-factory-to-close/
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