PRESIDENT George W Bush is “willing to listen” to any proposals to bail out struggling car-makers such as Vauxhall parent General Motors, and potentially save thousands of jobs.
The Daily Post revealed yesterday that Merseyside union leaders were flying to Germany for an emergency meeting to discuss how GM could cut costs at its European plants, including the Vauxhall plant at Ellesmere Port.
GM warned at the weekend that it could be bankrupt within months without an emergency cash injection from the US government to help it ride out the credit crunch and the collapse of consumer confidence.
It needs at least £7bn to pay its bills each month.
The US government has already agreed a $700bn (£448m) bailout of the financial services sector.
Senior Democrats had suggested the auto industry should be able to take advantage of that fund, though the White House has resisted that demand.
On Thursday the US’s big three car-makers – GM, Ford and Chrysler – asked the US Congress for £31.8bn of Federal aid.
Yesterday a White House spokesman said President Bush’s administration would listen to any proposals from Congress to help struggling car makers. President-elect Barack Obama is also considering ways to bail out the auto industry and his new chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel, has called for swift action to protect the sector.
UK trade union leader Tony Woodley has urged the Government to draw up a worldwide plan to boost the motor industry and help save the jobs of skilled workers.
Merseyside-born Mr Woodley, joint leader of Unite, stressed the urgency of the “crisis” facing the industry when he met Business Secretary Lord Mandelson.
He urged the minister to set up a £12bn fund to help UK manufacturers deal with the economic downturn, in line with an aid package the German government has announced, and pressed for a multi billion-pound European fund to invest in industry to maintain employment levels.
Mr Woodley said: “President-elect Obama has said he recognises the severity of the problems facing the car industry.
“Our Prime Minister has rightly demanded a global response to the crisis in the financial system and has worked to coordinate state intervention internationally.
“Manufacturing workers in motors, aerospace and elsewhere should expect no less. I urged Peter Mandelson, with his considerable international expertise, to work immediately with colleagues in the US, including in Obama’s transition team, and in Europe to put together a co-ordinated global package to get the motor industry out of the crisis caused by the reckless bankers.”
Merseyside union leaders at GM say they are optimistic about the future of the Ellesmere Port plant and its 2,200 employees.
The plant has been forced to introduce extra non-production days to help it cope with the collapse in new car sales, but unions say the plant will grow again once it starts building the new Astra from next September.
Other world car-makers are also suffering.
Jaguar Land Rover, which employs 2,000 people in Halewood, Merseyside, said last week it was seeking another 400 redundancies across the UK.
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