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Saturday, 25 March, 2000, 18:50 GMT
Welsh workers hit by Rover fallout
![]() Workers at the Krupp factory staged a protest meeting
Hundreds of car industry workers have held a mass protest meeting after BMW's decision to sell off Rover's plant at Longbridge.
An estimated 300 employees of the Thyssen Krupps factory in Llanelli gathered to voice their concerns that up to 160 out of 700 jobs could be lost. Union leaders told the Krupp employees that the plant's management was flouting signed agreements, which set out standard procedures over where cuts should be made.
The workers decided unanimously to tell the company that it must consult the union and consider voluntary redundancies and a range of other measures before taking action.
TGWU spokesman Geoff Jacobs said: "We are going back to the company and saying we are not getting involved in this quick fix and denying people their statutory rights." Llanelli AM Helen Mary Jones said while companies involved with Rover had been hit, time should be taken deliberating the outcome. "It does seem as if Thyssen Krupp are acting very quickly on this and I think the union are right to go back to the management and ask them to reconsider their position." The impact of the Rover sell off on the whole of the car components industry in south and west Wales is expected to be severe. Fallout This has led to calls for the area to be represented on the government task force set up to deal with the fallout. On Tuesday, First Secretary Rhodri Morgan said up to 1,000 jobs may be lost in Wales following BMW's decision to break-up the Rover group. In an answer to an emergency question in the Welsh Assembly, Mr Morgan said that the Welsh Development Agency had calculated there may be a loss of 1,000 jobs from car component suppliers in Wales.
The long-term viability of the Krupp factory - which produces pressings and assembly work for the motor industry - is not believed to be under threat.
Llanelli MP Denzil Davies has written to Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy calling on him to alert the Department of Trade and Industry to the plight of suppliers such as Thyssen Krupp. He has also written to Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers. The company has refused to comment, but discussions with management over the proposed job losses are continuing. Earlier this week Plaid Cymru's economic spokesman Dr Phil Williams called on the interests of Welsh automotive suppliers to be fully represented on the government task force set up to deal with the impact of the cutbacks at the Longbridge plant. Rover has confirmed that it has already cut back production at its Cowley and Longbridge plants. The cutbacks follow BMW's decision to sell Rover Cars to UK venture capital group Alchemy, who want to rebrand the firm as MG cars and turn it into a middle-volume producer of sports saloons.
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