The leader of the UK and Ireland’s largest union, Unite, has branded Ford’s decision to close its Bridgend engine plant a ‘grotesque act of economic betrayal’.
Commenting on news that Ford plans to shut Bridgend by September 2020, with the loss of 1,700 jobs, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “Ford's decision to shut its Bridgend engine plant in 2020 is a grotesque act of economic betrayal.
“These workers and this community have stayed faithful to Ford, as have UK customers - this is still Ford's largest European market - through thick and thin, but have been treated disgracefully in return by this company.
“Ford broke promise after promise to the UK. First, it was that it would build 500,000 engines at Bridgend. That fell to a quarter of a million, then fell again and again to now just 80,000. The company has deliberately run down its UK operations so that now not a single Ford vehicle - car or van - is made in the UK.
“Ford has treated its UK workers abysmally, and they could do so because the fact remains that it is cheaper, easier and quicker to sack our workers than those in our competitor countries.
“But Ford can forget about it if it thinks we will make it easy for Ford to walk away from this workforce. We will resist this closure with all our might, and call upon the governments at the Welsh Assembly and Westminster to join us to save this plant, and to prevent yet another grave injury to UK manufacturing.”
Image credit: Tramino
