Vauxhall unions fear new job cuts

UNION leaders at carmaker Vauxhall were today seeking urgent assurances from management that 3,000 jobs are safe at its two British plants amid reports that parent company General Motors could be about to cut its Europe-wide workforce by 10,000.

'We are hugely concerned and are seeking urgent meetings with management to clarify this worrying situation,' said Amicus national officer Tony Murphy.

Amicus and the TGWU represent workers at Ellesmere Port on Merseyside and at Luton.

General Motors has refused to comment on reports that jobs at Opel plants in Germany, Saab factories in Sweden and the two UK Vauxhall plants are under threat.

GM's head of European operations, Fritz Henderson, is said to be speeding up restructuring plans to try to stop the flow of red ink in Europe.

Reports say he now intends to unveil the plans this month. Officials at GM and Opel declined comment.

GM said in 2002 that it aimed to slash its European workforce from 70,000 at the time to 53,000 over two years.

The Ellesmere Port plant is working at full capacity, and Henderson said recently that it had undergone a 'pretty phenomenal turnaround' from being the firm's worst facility to a mid-ranking one.

GM Europe is expected to lose $200m (£112m) this year but aims to break even in 2005. It now employs 62,000, which would mean that if a further 10,000 jobs go, the cut would be deeper than originally foreseen.