Union leaders today vowed to fight the planned break-up of Rover as feelings
among some workers facing redundancy ran high.
Convenors and national officers decided at a meeting in the Midlands to seek
an "acceptable alternative" to the sale by German owners BMW of its
loss-making British subsidiary.
Meanwhile, Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers, who will visit Munich
on Thursday to meet BMW bosses, said the events of last week were now over
and the task of rebuilding for the future was beginning.
Officials from Alchemy Partners, who are set to buy the Longbridge factory in
Birmingham, visited the plant today to meet senior managers.
Their presence caused anger among some sections of the workforce and there
were rumours of a planned walkout, which failed to materialise.
A Rover spokesman said there was no reaction from the workers and he denied
reports that production was being cut back, with the loss of up to £80 a
month for some workers.
But union leaders insisted that feelings were running high and said they had
been told some shifts were being cut from five to four and a half a week.
Unions fear the 9,000-strong Longbridge workforce will be cut in half because
of the sell-off.
National officers will also travel to Munich on Wednesday to meet BMW
chairman Professor Joachim Milberg to express their opposition to the
break-up of Rover.
A public demonstration in Longbridge is being considered, although calls for
a boycott of BMW cars have not been ruled in or out at this stage.
The Retail Motor Industry Federation said it was "absolutely horrified" at
reports that some union officials and Labour MPs supported a boycott of the
German car.
"This type of action is misguided and ill-informed," said Alan Pulham, the
federation's franchised dealers director.
"British BMW dealers - many of whom are involved with Rover - will only
suffer damage by such ludicrous knee-jerk reactions.
"BMW are retailers like any other in the UK - their businesses provide jobs
and benefit local economies. Why do further damage to the British workforce?"
Mr Byers said today: "The events of last week are now behind us, but we have
to live and work with the consequences, so this week we begin the task of
ensuring the future of those workers who remain and start to build a future
for those who are facing the uncertainty of either a new owner or potential
redundancy."
BMW dropped "numerous" hints to the Government that it was intending to pull
the plug on Rover, the company said today.
BMW managers gave the Department of Trade and Industry clear messages about
its plans although it failed to spell them out explicitly to Mr Byers, said a
company spokesman.
The firm said it had "regret" that it could not inform the Government before
news of the sale leaked out last week.
But the spokesman insisted BMW had done all it could to alert the British
authorities.
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ps. did you know that BMW refuses to allow Haynes to produce a repair manual
for any of their cars?
Léon
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