05/04 (21:40) MEMO TOLD ROVER WORKERS OF BMW'S `TOTAL COMMITMENT'
By Alan Jones, Industrial Correspondent, PA News
Rover workers were assured that BMW's commitment to the company was "total"
in a memo just weeks before the German car giant decided to sell its loss
making subsidiary, it emerged tonight.
An internal memo dated February 14 was sent to workers following media
speculation about the future of Rover and the huge plant at Longbridge in
Birmingham.
The memo denied reports that there had been discussions between BMW and its
German rival Volkswagen.
The memo added: "BMW's commitment to Rover and to Birmingham remains total
and we are pressing for an early decision on state aid so that the new medium
car programme can be implemented and the £1.5 billion transformation of the
plant can get under way."
One month later, on March 16, the BMW Supervisory Board decided to break up
Rover and sell the company.
Sir Ken Jackson, general secretary of the Amalgamated Engineering and
Electrical Union, said tonight: "BMW was not just keeping the Government in
the dark - they told the workforce just one month before the final decision
to sell that their jobs were safe.
"The workers had no time to plan for their future because they were assured
by the company there was no danger of Longbridge closing.
"I am appalled that the workers were treated in this way."
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