Union anger at yard closure plan

Unions have demanded action to save two naval shipyards after a memo revealed plans that could see them close after aircraft carrier work ends in 2014.

The leaked document came from BVT, which owns yards at Scotstoun and Govan in Glasgow and one in Portsmouth.

It said the Ministry of Defence was willing to pay for thousands of redundancies to scale down Britain's warship building capacity.

BVT said it did not expect closures in the "foreseeable future".

The memo, seen by BBC Scotland, shows BVT Surface Fleet's chief executive Alan Johnston forecasting savings of up to £500m from the closure of two yards after the contract for two Royal Navy super-carriers is completed in 2014.

Jim Moohan, the chairman of the shipbuilding and engineering unions in Scotland, said the news had come as a "massive shock".

"For the first time we had turned a corner with a golden future for the next five to 10 years," Mr Moohan said.

"This announcement is being timed quite cynically and deliberately to mark the card of employees in shipbuilding within the UK that the reduced capacity is going to result in problems."

Mr Moohan said he accepted there were limitations on "capacity and money" but said the challenge for the firm and politicians was to save the yards.

"If I've got five years' notice to try and save an industry or protect it, then that gives me and others and opportunity to do so," he said.

The Unite union said the memo ran contrary to views of other people in the industry that future orders could sustain shipyards for many years.

"I am concerned for the Clyde yards but there is no need for panic"

BVT employs 7,000 workers at the three yards and another site in Bristol.

National officer Bernie Hamilton said: "We condemn these plans as short-sighted. We understand that some restructuring may have to take place, but we do not accept the closure of a yard or making thousands of people redundant."

Scottish Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the reports would cause deep concern among the workforce and communities on the Clyde.

She said: "I have recently spoken with Alan Johnston, chief executive of BVT, who had assured me the company was working to secure the long-term future of the yards and I will be contacting BVT... to demand assurances over their commitment to the Clyde yards and the long-term future of Scotland's shipbuilding expertise."

Worst case

Labour MSP Pauline McNeill, whose Glasgow Kelvin constituency includes the Scotstoun yard, said she was also due to meet Mr Johnston, but that she remained optimistic.

"I am concerned for the Clyde yards but there is no need for panic. I believe that Glasgow's case is so strong its future will be secure," she said.

"Design capability resides in Glasgow and cannot easily be transferred to Portsmouth."

A BVT spokesman said it was prudent for any company to make contingency plans for a "worst case scenario".

He added: "BVT Surface Fleet has a solid order book for the next seven to eight years and is in the strongest position that the shipbuilding industry in the UK has seen for a generation."

The MoD said negotiations were ongoing and no decisions had been made.

BVT Surface Fleet was created in early 2008, bringing together the warship building operations of BAE Systems and the VT Group.

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