Rolls-Royce to axe jobs at South Gloucestershire factory

MORE than 50 jobs are under threat at Rolls-Royce’s factory in Patchway, the unions have claimed.

According to the Unite union 54 jobs are to be lost by the engineering giant in a move that will see 320 posts axed across the country.

The move is part of a move which will see admin and support staff made redundant as the firm concentrates on production staff.

The union as criticised the firm for making the job cuts at a time when it is making massive profits and has a record order book.

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Unite said that the job losses will target “indirect” workers, as the company seeks to switch resources into production activities.

Unite national officer for aerospace and shipbuilding, Ian Waddell said: “Rolls-Royce is a massive success story in UK manufacturing, making record profits and with a booming order book. The company needs the support of its employees to continue this success story and fulfil its commitments to its customers.

“Another round of redundancies in these circumstances, on top of the 400 job losses proposed in its defence business, is a criminal waste of talent that will create insecurity and damage morale in the workforce.”

As reported in The Post the cuts announced last month will not affect Bristol, which has recently won more overseas work.

Unite is demanding that any restructuring or cost reduction is done without compulsory redundancy.

The union claims it has a good record of avoiding compulsory redundancy by working constructively with the company and said it wants to see Rolls-Royce succeed and grow.

Ian Waddell added: “We want Rolls-Royce to prosper as this will provide job security for current employees and future job opportunities for our young people.

“I urge Rolls-Royce to abandon this plan and talk to the union about measures to further improve competitiveness without cutting loyal staff. The company does not need to disrupt the workforce in this way when it is demonstrating global success and creating huge profits.

“I call on the company to work with Unite to secure employment for the current UK workforce and for future generations.”

A Rolls-Royce spokesman said: “To remain competitive and meet our customer’s requirements, we need more people in front line engineering and production jobs and fewer in support functions.

“This means some of our facilities will expand and others will get smaller. Wherever possible we will redeploy people and we will seek to avoid compulsory redundancies.”