SACKED Visteon workers yesterday said that they had stopped 17 employees of the liquidator, KPMG, entering the plant in the morning who were seeking to work to get out much needed Jaguar and Land Rover parts.
Stephen Parenti, former Unite chair at the Enfield plant, told News Line, ‘Visteon still have 20 days’ worth of parts in the Enfield plant.
‘These are destined for Land Rover and Jaguar.
‘We don’t know if the staff arrived to move the parts or to prepare to remove the parts but they were not let in.
‘There was also an open day at Edmonton organised by KPMG for us to have interviews for possible jobs.
‘I feel this was a ploy to get most of us away from the factory, but they did not succeed.
‘They don’t realise they’ve got an educated workforce here.’
‘I would want them to come to the table until we come to a result.
‘I’m sure Visteon are using delaying tactics to try to break us, but we are still strong but financially we are finding it very hard.
‘I would like to see the Unite union do something to help the employees that have been put into hardship.
‘There is no Unite hardship fund for us.
‘They gave the Labour Party last year £11.6 million, yet we are having to struggle.
‘I don’t see why, if they have that kind of money, they can’t help us with some.
‘We want help now.’
Unite member Phil Wilson added: ‘They were trying to come in and work to prepare to get stuff out.’
The workers are angry and upset that the talks scheduled for yesterday between management and the convenors of the three Visteon plants, Enfield, Basildon and Belfast, did not take place, and have been postponed until today.
They were unanimous about the hardship. ‘Most of us have paid into the union for 30 years. Now it’s time for them to give something back.’
Unite member Syed Hussain added: ‘We are disappointed that the talks have been put back until tomorrow.’
Phil Wilson, another Unite member, said: ‘I’m a bit upset that the talks have been put back, but not surprised.
‘I would not be surprised for the talks to be delayed again.
‘The location is still being kept secret, as is the times.
‘We know our convenors are going to be party to the talks but it’s not been confirmed they will be in the talks. It’s wrong. We need our own eyes and ears in all the discussions.
‘Ideally we want our jobs back. If not, we want to be compensated with a reasonable redundancy, not just the government’s statutory redundancy.’
Enfield Unite convenor Kevin Nolan told News Line: ‘I got a call from (Unite national officer) Roger Madison that the meeting is definitely on tomorrow. The union are going to let me know the time and place this morning.’
