Jobs Must Come First, as Unite Announces March for Jobs

LONDON - A massive march for jobs through the UK’s manufacturing heartland has
been called today (Tuesday) by the UK’s biggest union, Unite, in a major
effort to ensure that action to protect jobs and skills is first among the
government’s recession-beating priorities.

The March through central Birmingham in May is announced as the jobs toll
in manufacturing ticks towards 20,000 skilled jobs gone in the six months
since the slump took hold, added to the tens of thousands more lost in
financial services and other key sectors, and amid fears that not enough is
being done to save jobs in critical parts of the economy.

Announcing the March, Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite
said: “Workers did not cause this recession but they are paying for it hand
over fist with their jobs.

“Twenty thousand jobs have disappeared from manufacturing since this
recession took hold, and thousands more in finance and other core sectors.
Unemployment blights lives and leaves communities in despair so we will not
stand by while our jobs and the very skills that will help pull us out of
this downturn are swept away by the recession tide.

“People desperately need some assurance that they will remain in work and
can keep a roof over their families’ heads, and companies cannot keep the
lights on in factories with promises alone. No more delay - we need action
now or we will see our skills base and vital manufacturing sector shattered
for a generation.”

The union is joined in its call for action by leading figures in the
business world, including ex-CBI chief and former government minister Lord
Digby Jones and Paul Everitt, the CEO of the Society of Motor Manufacturers,
as well as Jon Cruddas MP and Professor David Bailey from the Birmingham
University Business school, in pressing for manufacturing to be restored to
the heart of the economy.

Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of Unite, added: “If the state’s
help is good enough for the banks, then it is surely good enough for the UK’s
workers.

“Right across the economy, from the car industry to the financial sector,
fear of unemployment is stalking our communities and wrecking confidence. A
clear plan now from government to support the skilled jobs and businesses of
which this country can be rightly proud, to save jobs and stimulate consumer
demand, will be effort and money well spent.

“Investment now will show that jobs and people that come first, and will
demonstrate to workers that government hears their fears and is on their
side.”

The March is set to take place on Saturday, May 16th through Birmingham
city centre and will be the centrepiece of the union’s Unite for Jobs
campaign to secure urgent and strategic action to defend jobs within the
beleaguered manufacturing sector, including:

* The urgent implementation of a temporary short time working
compensation scheme to save the jobs hundreds of thousands of
skilled workers and sustain our manufacturing base in the immediate
term. A joint proposal from the TUC and the Federation of Small
Businesses (FSB) estimated that a GBP1.2bn package of wage subsidies
would save some 600,000 jobs.

* Speedier access to credit from the banks, again to ensure immediate
support for manufacturing businesses;

* Extra government financing for the sector, in keeping with the
levels of assistance provided to manufacturers by overseas
competitors;

* Action to stimulate consumer demand, including a car scrappage scheme
coupled with improved access to finance for buyers;

* A national strategy for jobs to ensure we have a clear road map out of
this recession, to create secure, skilled work and which places
manufacturing at its heart.

Unite is urging the swift introduction of a short-time working subsidy,
citing its past effectiveness as proof that it can save jobs and key skills.
Such a scheme was last used in the recession of the late 1970s/early 1980s
and helped save thousands of jobs in demand-sensitive industries, which at
the time were textiles and footwear. The Temporary Employment Scheme (TES)
came into operation in August 1975 and at its height in 1977 covered 190,000
people. It was estimated in 1982 that around 39% of jobs covered had been
saved.

Notes to Editors:

Jobs lost in the vehicle manufacturing sector: The BBC reported recently
that it had recorded over 100,000 job losses in the sector world wide since
the recession took hold.

The figures in the UK, based on Unite survey, since the end of September
for the sector are:

Motor vehicle: 8,932
Motor Components: 6,800

This is a conservative estimate as it relies on reported losses in
workplaces only where Unite members are employed. Unite research suggests
that the overall for the period in question is closer to 20,000.

Source: Unite the Union

For further information call Pauline Doyle on +44(0)7976-832-861