Member Article

Vauxhall plants shut as Fallon seeks further investment

Business Minister Michael Fallon is due to visit the Paris Motor Show this week, to promote the UK as an attractive investment location for foreign car manufacturers.

But as the Minister is away, production at Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port and Luton factories will stop for a week as demand for their cars has dipped.

The move follows announcements in May that the Ellesmere Port plant would produce the new model of Astra, as owners General Motors aimed to invest £125m in the facility, and spend £1bn in the UK component sector.

Speaking to BBC 4’s Today programme, Greg Gall, Professor of Industrial Relations at the University of Hertfordshire, explained that sales of high-end brands were still quite buoyant, while the bottom end of the market, including the likes of Vauxhall’s Astra model, had experienced declines.

Union officials struck a deal with Vauxhall meaning workers will still be paid, but will “owe” the company hours, which will be worked at a later date.

Professor Gall also suggested that further shutdowns could occur, and explained that unions were now more open to such “flexible working” measures, to first secure, and maintain investment.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .