6th Jul 11
Bombardier cuts 1,400 jobs
by Paul Russell
Off the rails: Bombardier loses Thameslink contract
Off the rails: Bombardier loses Thameslink contract
More than 1,400 jobs will be lost at the UK’s last train making business, Bombardier.
The job cuts announcement comes on the back of the decision by the Government to award the Thameslink route’s lucrative carriage order to Siemens of Germany instead of Derby-based Bombardier. The train making company said that the job losses would affect 446 permanent employees at Derby and 983 temporary workers.
A Bombardier-led consortium had been competing with a Siemens-led one for a lucrative contract for 1,200 new carriages in part of the £6bn renovations on the Thameslink route, which stretches from Brighton to Bedford through London. With the majority of its other contracts set to expire in September, the contract was crucial for the company’s future. The Government’s revelation in June that Siemens was the preferred bidder proved a major setback for Bombardier.
Rail Minister Theresa Villiers announced the winner, saying that the proposal by Siemens, which will construct the new carriages in Germany, was the best value for money for taxpayers and that the contract would ensure as many as 2,000 new UK jobs are created. Bombardier does have a contract for the Tube train which will run until 2014; however, this will only be able to support several hundred jobs at Derby.
The RMT transport union’s general secretary Bob Crow said that it is a scandal how the Government are working with the EU in an industrial vandalism policy which would wipe out the building of trains in the country which gave the world railways. He said that they will fight the decision from the shop floor to the House of Commons.
The Unite union’s general secretary Len McCluskey said that the situation at Bombardier was now at crisis point and the Government must act quickly and decisively to save the UK’s last train manufacturer. He said that Unite will work tirelessly to ensure that voluntary redundancies are maximised and that they expect Bombardier to fully cooperate; however, he added, the solution ultimately lies with the Government.
McCluskey described the situation as a tragedy, saying that the redundancies would not have occurred if the Government truly cared about British manufacturing and skills. He said that only three months ago, Chancellor George Osborne stated that the Tory-led government had set its sights on the phrase ‘made in Britain and created in Britain’ driving the country forward.
Workers at Derby are currently completing orders for carriages for the London Underground as well as diesel trains for the main line train company London Midland. Bombardier’s passengers division president for the UK Francis Paonessa said that with these projects being successfully completed and the Thameslink project being lost, it is inevitable that they must adjust capacity in line with economic reality.
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