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UNIONS launched a major campaign today to save a Devon shipyard from closure.
GMB and Unite have announced their fight to save the shipyard in Appledore, a key employer in the area for more than 160 years.
The yard is facing an uncertain future following the news that Babcock International, which owns the yard, has been unsuccessful in securing vital new work.
Nearly 200 ships have been built in the yard, but workers are concerned about the scarcity of future work.
Since January, the north Devon yard’s workers have been temporarily moved to Devonport, on the south coast close to Plymouth, where they continue to build. But the unions are warning that the situation is becoming increasingly precarious for Appledore’s workforce.
Many workers are having to renting out accommodation in Plymouth or take the bus to the city — a four-hour round trip from Bideford, where many of Appledore’s workers live.
The news that Malta’s armed forces have selected the Vittoria shipyard in Adria, Italy, to build offshore patrol vessels came as a blow to Appledore’s workers, who expected the contract themselves.
Unite convener Barry Hooper said that “the mood is tense. The workforce are really concerned about the future and morale is low.”
Heathcliffe Pettifer, a Unite regional officer who represents Appledore workers, criticised the government for its failure to step in to support the shipyard.
“When you consider that the government’s national shipbuilding strategy was effectively written around Appledore, it’s incredible that we are in this position.
“As a local resident, I know the effect on local businesses this will have and I fear the decline of the area.”
GMB shopfloor representative Jake McLean said: “I don’t want to see my children in minimum-wage dead-end jobs in the future, struggling to make ends meet.
“North Devon can’t rely on just tourism and farming: it would be devastating to lose the shipbuilding skills and history.”
Both GMB and Unite will be organising a demonstration in Bideford in support of the yard and have launched a petition to save Appledore’s workforce at www.change.org/p/save-appledore-shipyard.
