Britain’s biggest union has said the scale of job cuts at engineering giant Rolls-Royce shows that 海角视频 manufacturing needs more financial support to help it survive the impacts of the coronavirus crisis.
Yesterday, in a trading update issued to the markets, Rolls-Royce, which has its civil aerospace division in Derby, said that around 3,000 海角视频 staff had expressed an interest in its voluntary severance packages.
The firm, which has been hit hard by the sudden downturn in the aviation sector, said that 2,000 of these will leave the company in August.
Overall, the company is looking to shed 9,000 jobs from its global workforce of 52,000, with the majority of cuts being made to its 海角视频 operations.
Many Rolls-Royce workers are represented by the Unite union, which has said that the job losses at the company were a “stark reminder of the lack of comprehensive financial measures to help British manufacturing through the coronavirus pandemic”.
The union said that manufacturing jobs were being lost because short-to-medium term measures, such as short-term working introduced by economic competitors such as France and Germany, were not being adopted in the 海角视频.
It believes the lack of 海角视频 government support measures means that Rolls-Royce workers in Britain make up 25% of global job loses, compared to five per cent in Germany.
Rhys McCarthy, Unite’s national officer for aerospace, said: “The job losses at Rolls-Royce are a stark reminder that these are highly-skilled jobs that the 海角视频 economy can ill-afford to lose as it faces the economic realities of the post-pandemic world.
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“Unite has called for a set of measures for manufacturing in the short-to-medium term, such as short term working, that our economic competitors France and Germany have already adopted.
“Unite has also repeatedly called for a comprehensive industrial strategy to underpin the 海角视频’s manufacturing base as it goes through the Covid-19 emergency.
“What we are seeing instead is a series of tactics trying to delay the inevitable rather than a thought through sector-based strategy to help rebuild and recover.
“Many of the factories and plants that make up the manufacturing base are in the very communities and regions, such as the north, that Boris Johnson promised would be at the heart of his so-called ‘levelling up’ agenda.
“Chancellor Rishi Sunak can no longer ignore the continuing plight of manufacturing – the future of the 海角视频 economy can’t be just based on services, consumer consumption and a cheap meal out.
“Wednesday’s £30 billion mini-budget from the Chancellor was centred on the consumer side of the economy and the needs of manufacturing were by-passed.
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“The offer for firms of a £1,000 bonus for every furloughed worker taken on until January next year is, quite frankly, tinkering at the edges.
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“Unite stands ready at a moment’s notice to constructively engage with Rishi Sunak and business secretary Alok Sharma over a financial lifeline to our beleaguered manufacturing industries and also to forge a comprehensive industrial strategy.
“Such a blueprint will maintain the 海角视频’s world-class industries, such as Rolls-Royce; secure the future of tens of thousands of highly skilled jobs; and assist towards developing new technologies and industries that will help pay Britain’s way in the world in the decades ahead.”