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TRADE unionists agreed over the weekend to mobilise in support of thousands of Honda car manufacturing workers who are at risk of losing their jobs.
Yesterday at the annual conference of Yorkshire and the Humber region of the TUC, the emergency motion was unanimously agreed following Honda’s shock announcement that it is to close its highly profitable plant at Swindon with the loss of 3,500 jobs.
The closure also means the loss of 12,000 jobs in support industries.
But there could be a loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs if the Honda factory closure signals the start of a collapse of the entire vehicle manufacturing industry in Britain, the conference in Yorkshire was told.
Richard Bedford of general union Unite proposed the emergency motion calling for action.
“If Honda are allowed to walk away it is fair to assume other car plants will follow in places like Derby and Sunderland,” he said.
“It will not be just 3,500 Honda jobs, not just 12,000 in other industries, but hundreds of thousands of jobs in car manufacturing.”
The motion said the automotive industry “stands on the precipice of catastrophe.”
The motion said: “Last week in Swindon, Unite and the communities there held a rally in support of the Honda site.
“We call on conference to send a clear message of support to comrades in Swindon and pledge their support to workers at Honda.”
He said Yorkshire and the Humber TUC, representing 600,000 trade unionists, “should work with all interested parties including Labour politicians locally and nationally to ensure a successful future for the automotive industry in the UK.”
He said the media’s only interest in the closure was about any link to Brexit – not the effects on Honda workers and their families.
Seconding the motion, Ian Kemp of general union GMB said that as a steel worker his own job would be affected by the Honda closure, along with thousands of others in the steel industry.
“We can go down the road of supporting manufacturing, or go down the road of the government which is killing off manufacturing industry,” he said.
