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Union pushes for redundancy deal | |
(about 8 hours later) | |
Union representatives of workers sacked by car components firm Visteon have met with former owners Ford to discuss redundancy terms. | |
Workers have been occupying Visteon's Belfast plant over claims Ford reneged on guarantees about severance payments. | |
On Tuesday, Visteon sacked 565 of its 610-strong UK workforce. In Belfast, 210 workers lost their jobs. | On Tuesday, Visteon sacked 565 of its 610-strong UK workforce. In Belfast, 210 workers lost their jobs. |
Derek Simpson of the Unite union urged the former owner to honour its 'moral obligations' to the workers. | |
Further meetings are planned with Visteon's senior management to press the case for compensation. | |
Mr Simpson, joint general secretary of Unite, met Ford's European chairman, John Fleming. | |
"I am convinced that Ford have a moral obligation to these workers who have been cruelly laid off with only a few minutes' notice," Mr Simpson said. | |
"These workers must be treated with dignity and respect. This is yet another example of our weak labour laws letting skilled manufacturing workers down." | |
Mr Fleming undertook to raise the issues with Visteon's senior management in the US. | |
Speaking earlier on Friday, Unite spokesmans in Belfast Jimmy Kelly said there was "no time limit" on the sit-in. | |
"To say that just basic packages are available is not the way to treat people," he said. | "To say that just basic packages are available is not the way to treat people," he said. |
The Visteon operation in Belfast was established out of an existing Ford plant nine years ago. | |
A Ford spokesman has warned that the Visteon workers were no longer the responsibility of the company. | |
The administrators, KPMG, said there was no alternative but to close the factories which were losing money. | |
Workers have also been protesting at the Ford sub-contractor's premises in Enfield and Basildon. | Workers have also been protesting at the Ford sub-contractor's premises in Enfield and Basildon. |