Politicians join unions in Jaguar move protest march

Hundreds of Jaguar workers from across Britain joined union leaders and politicians today to protest at plans to end car production at the luxury car maker’s historic home.

A march and rally was held in Coventry city centre to put pressure on the British government and Jaguar’s owners Ford to reverse their decision to scale down the Browns Lane plant because of over-capacity.

Workers and union representatives fear the 1,150 job cuts across the company and the switch in production of the XJ saloon and XK sports car from Coventry to Castle Bromwich in Birmingham could lead to more job losses.

But Jaguar bosses rejected the claims and insisted the cuts were necessary to save about 2,000 other jobs in the city and about 8,000 at their plants elsewhere in the UK.

Today’s rally, which started at the Coventry Transport Museum where examples of many famous Jaguar marques are housed, came ahead of the start of a ballot for strike action on Monday.

The demonstration heard calls from Coventry’s three Labour MPs, a Home Office minister and the general secretaries of the Transport and General Workers Union and Amicus call for Ford to come back to the negotiating table.

Tony Woodley, from the T&G, renewed his call for employment legislation to be changed, which he alleged had allowed Ford to put forward the proposals without proper consultation.

Jaguar officials have denied the claim and say they are still “willing and prepared” to meet unions.

He told the crowd, which included Jaguar workers from the firm’s other production sites in Castle Bromwich, and Halewood, Merseyside, that the laws made British manufacturing a “soft touch“.

Rounding on Ford management for not giving them answers to the actual cost of switching production to Castle Bromwich, Mr Woodley claimed it would cost more to shut down the Coventry plant than keep it open.

His Amicus counterpart, Derek Simpson, called for workers’ full backing and said they would do “all they can” to support them.

All three city MPs have strong links to the company; Coventry North East MP Bob Ainsworth is a former sheet metal worker at Browns Lane; former Paymaster General Geoffrey Robinson, who represents Coventry North West, is an ex-Jaguar executive.

Jim Cunningham’s Coventry South constituency takes in the Jaguar research and development centre at Whitley.

Mr Ainsworth said great strides had been made at Browns Lane since he left in 1991.

“The productivity levels are second to none and the quality levels are the best in the whole of Ford.

“Why then are they facing the threat of closure? That’s the answer we need from Ford and the answer they have flatly refused, to date, to give us.”

Home Office minister Mike O’Brien, who represents neighbouring North Warwickshire, said the end of production at Browns Lane would have a knock-on effect throughout the West Midlands and British manufacturing.

The crowd reinforced the message with banners demanding “Don’t let Ford wreck our lives“, “Ford keep your promise” plus “Jaguar workers fighting for our future“, “Can you ever trust Ford?” and “No to 1,150 job cuts“.

One worker, who declined to be named but works in the veneer department at Browns Lane, expressed his concern despite Ford’s announcement that 310 jobs in that sector would remain.

He said there were fears that despite Ford’s reassurances, their jobs could be sent abroad if the company received a suitable offer.

“If they can do it in one part of the company, they can do it somewhere else,” he said. “They (Ford) said if they opened Halewood they wouldn’t touch Browns Lane, but that was a lie.”

Castle Bromwich shop steward Paul Duffy, 41, was sanguine about the likely impact of the march but stressed it was vital to support their Coventry colleagues whose jobs were under threat.

The logistics worker, from Yardley, Birmingham, admitted it was “very unlikely” the protest would reverse Ford’s decision.

But he added: “It’s about sending Ford a signal that they can’t make decisions willy nilly or break agreements and that we’re not going to stand for it. We’re dealing with people’s lives here.”

In a statement, Jaguar said they could understand the depth of feeling about the proposed job cuts but they were a “painful and necessary step” to secure the company’s long-term future.

They praised the workforce and “deeply regretted” transferring assembly from Browns Lane but insisted that it was not closing down.

Browns Lane would continue to be the company’s global headquarters and centre for wood veneer manufacturing, employing 500 people. Another 2,000 would stay on at Whitley with other options for transfer to Castle Bromwich and Gaydon in Warwickshire, they added.

“We deeply regret the actions we had to announce, but given the fact that Jaguar is losing hundreds of millions, these actions are necessary to secure a future,” they said.

“Strike action would undoubtedly further damage our business, and would make Jaguar’s recovery and future more uncertain.”