Fears 460 jobs could go at Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port plant

Feb 23 2008 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

UNION leaders said they were unaware of plans for further job cuts at Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port factory.

It followed rumours yesterday that up to 460 jobs could be threatened at the plant, which has already lost 900 workers in 2006.

John Fetherstone, of the union Unite, said they had heard of proposals for up to 5,000 job losses across Europe but had been told nothing by management at the factory.

He said: “We can’t comment on it because we haven’t been told anything.”

A meeting will take place next Thursday in Germany after which he hoped to find out more about any proposals, but he said there were “a lot of rumours flying around”.

In May 2006, workers at the plant were devastated by 900 job losses when parent company General Motors cut of one of the plant’s three shifts.

Despite fears that the job losses were the beginning of the end for the plant, it was a different story in May 2007 when General Motors confirmed the Astra would be built at Ellesmere Port.