Unite blames Tory-led government for BAE Systems redundancies
Unite, the UK’s biggest union, has reacted angrily to an announcement today that 450 people will be made compulsorily redundant at BAE Systems as a result of government decisions made in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) last autumn.
BAE Systems had previously said that 2447 job losses were possible as a result of decisions such as the scrapping of the Nimrod MRA4 and the accelerated retirement of the Harrier aircraft. The company has worked closely with Unite to mitigate job losses, but there will still be around 450 compulsory redundancies across at least six sites.
Reacting to the news, Ian Waddell, Unite national officer for aerospace & shipbuilding, said:
“The blame for these job losses lies firmly at the door of Liam Fox and the rest of the Tory-led government. The short sighted, financially driven decisions taken in the SDSR is illustrated by the reality of hundreds of highly skilled, economically valuable men and women losing their jobs.
“BAE Systems has done everything possible to avoid sacking people, but the enormity of these cuts is such that compulsory redundancies are now inevitable. “There is a serious capability gap which the UK’s armed forces now face, proving that there was nothing strategic about the review.
Mr Waddell called for the SDSR to be re-opened and argued that any review should be seen in the light of the impact on the whole UK economy.
“The UK has been heavily reliant on service sector jobs and the finance industry and our economy has been seriously weakened as a result. The government should re-open the SDSR and find ways to save high skill, high value manufacturing jobs to rebalance our economy and help drive growth. So far, they have done the opposite, slashing the very jobs that could help turn the UK around.”
ENDS
Contact: Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315
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