Business Secretary Mandelson told the BBC yesterday that there will be ‘painful change’ resulting from the takeover of GM Europe.
He said that whichever of the three bidders for GM Europe, which owns Vauxhall and Opel, takes over, this would be inevitable.
‘Whoever comes out as the successful bidder will cut costs and consolidate,’ he warned.
Claiming he was working hard to secure the future of Vauxhall plants, Mandelson added: ‘We have to ensure that productive plants, where the greatest percentage of sales take place and which include UK Vauxhall plants, have a secure future.
‘That is what I am working for.’
The deadline for bids for GM Europe closed at midnight on Wednesday.
All Trades Unions Alliance national secretary Dave Wiltshire told News Line yesterday: ‘Whatever happens to GM, Vauxhall jobs in Britain and the two sites are finished.
‘Five thousand jobs are at stake and Mandelson proposes to do absolutely nothing.
‘The nationalisation of Vauxhalls under the control of its workers is the only way that these jobs could be saved.
‘This government won’t do it, so it must be removed.
‘Until then, the plants should be occupied to prevent them being stripped and Woodley must be made to have to fight this government or get out.’
‘B’ shift (double day shift) worker at Vauxhall Luton and Unite member Chris Stagg told News Line: ‘At the end of the day, the letter that we got came from the company rather than the union.
‘They said that they had to drop the build number, the actual number of vehicles that they produce.
‘They only gave the night shift 24 hours to decide what shift they wanted to transfer to, A shift or B shift, and they said they would keep a skeleton crew on night shift just to pick up any tabs, if we didn’t produce enough vehicles between the two shifts.
‘A whole shift of people work at night right across the plant, but it seems the main section to be hit is the body shop section.
‘At the end of the day, I want to know where the union is?
‘We have had very, very little paperwork put out by them and even by the company and what paperwork on my shift that has been put out, we just found it laying around.
‘You’d get the odd flyer put out, but you don’t actually get given any.
‘Personally I think nationalisation is the only way you’re going to save the car industry.
‘I think the way that it’s going and by what we gather on the news now, I think that an occupation and strike action is going to be the only way that we can save jobs, probably both coinciding together. You could have a national strike,’ said Stagg.
