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Nissan redundancies ?all voluntary'

Nissan has revealed that all 1,200 redundancies at their Washington plant were voluntary.

The Japanese car manufacturer announced it was making cuts at the Sunderland plant in January.

800 full-time positions and 400 temporary workers faced the axe, amounting to almost a quarter of the workforce at the factory.

A joint consultation committee was set up, comprising Nissan management, workers, and the Unite trade union, to ensure as many of the 1,200 redundancies as possible were made by voluntary means.

Yesterday, as the 90-day consultation period with affected workers ended, the group’s work was hailed as a success when it was confirmed that all 1,200 job cuts have been voluntary redundancies.

But while this round of redundancies has been concluded, a senior executive at Sunderland warned more job losses in the future could not be ruled out.

Trevor Mann, senior vice president for manufacturing in Europe, said: “We will continue to closely monitor what remains a highly volatile market, and remain ready to take further action if needed to protect the company during unprecedented economic conditions, and position Nissan for strong growth once the crisis ends.”

The Nissan Response Group, which was set up to help support affected workers, and included agencies such as One North East, JobCentre Plus and the North East Chamber of Commerce, also said it was pleased with the outcome of the consultation.

Alan Clarke, chairman of the Nissan Response Group and chief executive of regional development agency One North East, said: “Nissan, staff and Unite have worked hard to reach the point where no employee is having to leave the company through compulsory redundancy.

“There is no doubt that this has been a difficult and stressful time for employees and their families, and it is welcome news that the right sizing of the workforce has been achieved through voluntary redundancies only.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .