The Hindu Business Line : ‘Ford, Tatas must focus on job, plant security’

Mumbai, Jan. 3 Job security of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) employees and the fate of manufacturing facilities in the UK should be at the heart of future discussions, or Unite, Britain’s largest trade union, will not support or accept Ford’s intention to sell or transfer the company.

This was the message from Mr Tony Woodley, Unite’s Joint General Secretary, coming close on the heels of Ford’s announcement that it was entering into focused negotiations with the Tatas over the sale of its iconic brands Jaguar and Land Rover.

“We need further and more detailed meetings and discussions with Ford and Tata which will focus on the job security of our members in the Jaguar Land Rover and Ford plants in the UK,” he said, after the workforce were informed of Ford’s intentions.

No meetings have been arranged yet between the union and Tatas or Ford, a Unite representative told Business Line, reiterating that job and plant security would be at the top of the agenda.

“There are also crucial issues around wages, terms and conditions and pensions to address before any final decision is considered,” Mr Woodley’s statement said. Negotiations with the pension trustees will be a significant hurdle that the Tatas will have to scale in future discussions. Reports put the pension deficit of the two brands at £200 million.

JLR directly employs about 15,000 people in Britain and about 40,000 people across the supply chain, according to overseas media reports. The company has three factories in the UK, at Solihull and Castle Bromwich in the Midlands and Halewood on Merseyside.

Despite the strong message sent out by Unite on Thursday, the union has in the past cast its might with the Tatas. Last November, Unite had said that if a sale of Jaguar and Land Rover were indeed inevitable, then they preferred to go with the Tatas.