Call for aid for Rolls-Royce workforce

Derby workers had bad news waiting for them

Union leaders have reacted with anger and disappointment over the 5,000 job losses announced by Rolls-Royce.

One said that the scale of the losses, set to be 3,800 in the UK, puts the future of Rolls-Royce as a world player under threat.

Workers' leaders are already calling for government help to reduce the impact of the 1,900 jobs to be lost in Derby.

One local MP promised that the government would be acting, along with a host of other agencies, to "pick up the pieces" in Derby.

Workers' anger

Glenn Johnson, regional officer for the MSF union which represents 4,000 workers at the Derby plant, said the size of the job losses does bring in to question the future of Rolls-Royce.

"It's not just the local short-term impact, which is going to be considerable, but if the company is going to regain its position to challenge the likes of General Electric as a global engine provider it is not going to do that if it has lost a lot of skilled and experienced workers.

"There will be a mixed reaction amongst the workforce.

"There is going to be relief because the workers have had this sword hanging over them for a number of days so there will be relief that they now know the scale of it," he said.

One worker was philosophical

"But there will be anger because the company have been urging workers to adopt a new philosophy of working together with management.

"You can hardly do that when the company reacts in this way."

Some workers arriving at the Derby plant on Friday morning were more reticent about the job losses.

"I think with what's been happening it's the last thing anybody has got to get worried about at the moment. There's a lot more people that are worse off than we are."

'Better than expected'

Another worker added: "It's probably less than we were expecting to be honest.

"I'd been preparing myself for 25 per cent so it sounds a bit less than that, which is good news.

"I just need to see how it affects the section that I work in."

Tony Tinley, regional officer for the Amalgamated, Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU), said unions would be working to offset the impact of large redundancies.

There has been a cut in engine orders

"We are obviously very concerned about the job losses and appreciate the step taken by the company is not a knee- jerk reaction.

"We saw that at Boeing where the company immediately let go 6,000 people which had an immediate impact on the business and employment," he said.

"Rolls-Royce have taken a lot longer to come to this decision.

"We are disappointed at the scale of this. We hope and expect to work closely with the company to offset the numbers as much as possible."

Government help

Bob Laxton, MP for Derby North, said: "Quite clearly Rolls-Royce is a value-added company and the government is going to do all it can to help and assist, along with a plethora of organisations, to pick up the pieces to assist the city and those that have been made redundant."

Mark Slaviero, of the Derby Chamber of Commerce, said the local economy was strong.

"We do have a diverse economic base with a number of growing industries so hopefully we should be able to withstand these cuts," he said.

Union leaders will be meeting with management throughout the day to get a clearer picture of where the losses will fall and how many workers will face compulsory redundancy.