Rolls-Royce staff to vote on possible strike action

Feb 7 2008 by Ben Schofield, Liverpool Daily Post

WORKERS on redundancy alert at the Netherton Rolls-Royce factory have chosen to vote on taking strike action.

Unite union also confirmed they have appointed lawyers to scrutinise the 90-day consultation on site closure proposals to see if it was meaningful.

More than 130 staff yesterday took the decision to ballot union members on strike action, with one worker voting against taking action.

The workforce will vote again in about two weeks to decide between an all-out strike or measures short of industrial action, which could include an overtime ban.

More than 200 staff at the Dunnings Bridge Road site, Bootle, were told on Tuesday they would lose their jobs.

Rolls-Royce started consulting over plans to shut the industrial turbine factory at the start of November.

But trade unions claim the procedure was a sham and closing the factory was a foregone conclusion.

Lawyers for the unions will go through minutes of meetings between staff and management to assess if the consultation was genuine.

If Rolls-Royce are guilty of infringements on their consultation procedure they may have to pay workers 90 days’ pay on top of any settlement they get.

The company strenuously denies its mind was made up prior to entering negotiations and says it heard proposals from staff with an open mind.

Debbie Brannan, the Unite regional officer for Rolls-Royce, said she would be delivering a bundle of evidence to lawyers at the beginning of next week.

She told the Daily Post: “It’s about saying to Rolls Royce this is just so wrong.

“What we are looking for is that Rolls-Royce hasn’t consulted properly and that the decision has been taken months ago.”

Staff at the plant were involved in negotiations with management throughout the 90-day period. They offered to overhaul their work patterns to improve productivity and cut costs.

Rolls-Royce reportedly demanded £30m of savings but the workers fell short by 25%.

The company complained the site had high overheads, fluctuating work volumes and suffered from the adverse exchange rate with the dollar.

A worker at the site, who asked not to be named, said they were striking to try to get the best settlement out of the company.

He said: “We have just been treated disgustingly and let down.

“As a group of men we still want this decision over turned.”

Redundancy notices will be issued to staff in April with most of the staff leaving by October, ahead of the site being closed in March, 2009.

The work done at the site will be transferred to an American plant in Mount Vernon, Ohio.

Union members from across the country will march through Liverpool city centre on Saturday in a show of solidarity with the Bootle workers.

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