FORD WORKERS ACROSS UK MUST STAND TOGETHER AGAINST BRIDGEND CLOSUSE, GMB EMERGENCY MOTION SAYS

This is a devastating blow for Bridgend, the Welsh car industry and the regional economy says GMB Union

Ford workers across the must stand together against the closure of the Bridgend Plant, GMB Congress has said.

An emergency motion, passed at GMB’s Annual Conference in Brighton today [Sunday June 9, 2019], calls on the company to reconsider the closure – which will cost 1,700 jobs.

Ford workers at the car giant’s other UK plants must stand alongside their Brigend colleages, the motions says.

Workers are due back at the Ford Bridgend plant tomorrow [Monday] for the first time since the closure was announced on Thursday.

Jennifer Smith, GMB Delegate who lives next to Bridgend, told congress:

“This is a devastating blow for Bridgend, the Welsh car industry and the regional economy.

“More significantly, it’s a catastrophic blow for our members, their families and the community.

“The workforce at the plant have made every contribution possible to increasing productivity, making efficiency savings and ensuring that it is cost-competitive, only to have their commitment and loyalty betrayed by the company.

“This is also another example of the lack of support given by Central Government to the manufacturing sector in this country generally and in Wales particularly.

“The absence of any coherent strategy has caused a repeat of the decimation that we saw in the sector in the 1980s with the deliberate run-down of the coal mining and steel production industries. “