UNION leaders last night vowed to fight for the long-term future of Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant.

A packed fringe meeting was held at Jurys Inn, just yards from where the main TUC Congress is taking place at the BT Convention Centre.

Union leaders and MPs both spoke passionately about the need to safeguard the jobs and livelihoods of all those who work at Vauxhall’s two main UK plants, owned by General Motors (GM).

Along with workers from Ellesmere Port, a sizeable contingent also travelled from the car giant’s other site at Luton to attend the meeting.

It followed GM’s recent buy-out deal with Canadian car parts maker Magna, when it was revealed some 10,000 jobs are expected to be cut from the European workforce, including 5,500 in the UK. The depth of hostility to the Magna deal was made clear by speaker after speaker from the Unite union.

John Cooper, deputy convener at Ellesmere Port, said the livelihoods of not only the plant’s 2,200 staff were at risk, but the estimated 10,000 people who work in the 450 companies which depend on the Cheshire site, such as parts manufacturers, caterers and cleaners.

He said: “The magnitude of the knock-on effects would be unbelievable.”