THE Visteon Belfast factory’s Unite convenor, John Maguire, said yesterday that he was being excluded from the meeting with the Visteon management.
He said: ‘The Belfast plant has been in dispute for near on three weeks, if we have to be here for six months we’ll be here.
‘But the heads of the Unite union have excluded the Belfast representatives from participation in this meeting today.
‘Yet they have invited us over to sit outside the meeting.’
The talks were due to take place in London yesterday to resolve the dispute at three Visteon sites.
After being laid off by the firm, which has gone into administration in the UK, workers in Belfast are still occupying their plant.
Enfield workers occupied their factory but had their occupation ended by their union leaders last Thursday.
Workers have been picketing the Basildon plant.
Nearly 600 jobs were axed at the three plants, 210 in Belfast, with staff being given just six minutes’ notice.
The workers said they were told they would keep their Ford pay and conditions for life when the company was split off from Ford nine years ago.
They say that they want their jobs back.
Workers and their supporters in the North of Ireland picketed Ford showrooms over the Easter weekend as well as continuing with their occupation at the Visteon plant in Finaghy.
The deputy convenor of Visteon Enfield, Piers Hood, said the talks had started at 1pm, but still hadn’t had any result.
He said that the convenor, Kevin Nolan, was at the meeting.
He told News Line: ‘We have to sit tight and see what happens.
‘If we don’t get a satisfactory result today, we will continue our picketing.
‘Yesterday we turned away 17 ex-Visteon workers who had been retained by the administrator.
‘About half an hour ago, at 3.45pm, the plant manager, Walter G Thomas, arrived.
‘He drove past the picket line in both directions, giving the pickets a sarcastic wave.
‘He went to try his luck at other gates, but in the event decided to stay clear.’
Convenor Kevin Nolan sent a message to the picket line to ask workers to get accommodation sorted out for four representatives of the Unite factory in Belfast, who will be staying overnight.
Shop steward Raymond Dixon told News Line: ‘We haven’t heard anything yet.
‘Talks are still continuing. The location has been kept a secret.
‘We are not very happy about that.
‘It just goes to show that our union leaders are trying to keep things quiet.
‘When our convenor went to New York he was told he could not go into the meeting.
‘I would not be surprised if what the Belfast convenor said about being kept out of the London meeting is true.
‘Also, I feel we need to rethink how we select union officials because I feel they have lost touch of the purpose for which they are there.
‘They are not only selling out their own people, by not standing up when needed, but also selling out the industry that we have so little left of.’
Unite member Thomas Isadore said: ‘It’s terrible the way we are being treated.
‘Not only were we sacked at six minutes’ notice, with no redundancy, we are being kept waiting for compensation and all the delay in talks is typical of the Visteon corporation.
‘And the way our national union leaders have behaved is not good. We need more help than has been offered.
‘I would like to see a union official down here every day, not just once a fortnight.’