Vauxhall 'could axe 1,100 jobs'

By Mark Sanders
Europe business reporter, BBC News, Brussels

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Magna deal 'a political stitch-up'

Some 1,100 Vauxhall jobs could be lost as part of Canadian parts maker Magna's restructuring of Opel, a source close to the talks has told BBC News.

Any job cuts could be shared between the plants at Luton and Ellesmere Port, the source said.

Earlier, a German newspaper said almost 1,400 jobs would be lost in the UK as part of 11,000 job cuts across Europe.

"Speculation on job losses... is unhelpful at such early stages of the negotiations," the UK government said.

"Every aspect of these negotiations is under very active discussion and the government is working to secure the best possible outcome for Vauxhall in the UK," a spokesperson from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) said.

"It's too early to quote numbers."

Uncertain future

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General Motors recently agreed to sell a 55% stake in its European units to Magna and Russian bank Sberbank.

Last week at the Frankfurt Motor Show, where Opel/Vauxhall launched the new Astra, Magna's co-chief executive, Siegfried Wolf, told reporters as many as 10,500 jobs would have to go, with 4,000 of the cuts in Germany.

Mr Wolf said that the cuts could take more than a year to implement

Opel employs a total of 54,500 workers across Europe, with 25,000 based in Germany.

British unions are concerned about the long-term future of Vauxhall's 5,500 UK workers and its two plants in Luton and Ellesmere Port.

Tony Woodley, joint leader of the Unite union said he had "growing concerns" over Magna's plans for Vauxhall.

Vauxhall has two factories in the UK

Mr Woodley repeated a warning he gave at the TUC Congress in Liverpool last week, saying "at last the truth is out about Magna's intention towards the UK plants at Ellesmere Port and Luton".

"If these plans to slash jobs at both sites and cut the volume of cars produced at Ellesmere Port are pushed through, then make no mistake, Vauxhall will cease to operate in this country in six years' time."

The BIS spokesperson said: "We have said that some re-structuring is inevitable, but we have had assurances from Magna that Ellesmere Port and Luton will remain open for the foreseeable future."

"The stitch-up with the German government means that in the long-term all the other countries are going to lose out in a big way," Mr Woodley told the BBC.

The BIS spokesperson said: "The European Commission has also said it will be looking closely at the business plans and the financial contributions by the various governments and will not accept anything that looks like a political fix or any requirement that links aid to job retention for any specific plant or country."