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NO TO THE JOBS
MASSACRE IN DERBY
20 July
The jobs massacre at
Bombardier will devastate Derby and Britain�s manufacturing capacity
if it is allowed to go ahead. The Derby Evening Telegraph reported
�that Bombardier's Derby factory could be the epicentre of an economic
earthquake that could level many other smaller firms�.
A few months ago,
Cameron and the ConDem cabinet came to Derby to pledge support for
manufacturing jobs. And didn't George Osborne claim the private sector
would �take up the slack� of 750,000 public sector job cuts?
The loss of the
�Thameslink� train‐building
contract threatens up to 20,000 jobs in the region. For every worker
employed by Bombardier, at least 4 more jobs are supported further
down the supply chain. And these are skilled, well‐paid,
unionised jobs with proper apprenticeships and pensions. The loss of
both direct and indirect jobs throughout the supply and support
industries, as well as legal, technical, training, research and
development services, even down to local shops and restaurants will
devastate the East Midlands. As Bob Crow, RMT general secretary says:
�This act of political vandalism will impact on every single person in
the area�.
More unemployment,
more poverty, more desperation � these will be the immediate results
of this decision unless we fight back. It is nonsense for the
government to suggest that awarding the contract to Siemens represents
"best value for money". The huge long‐term
cost of a jobs massacre is loss of taxes and increased reliance on
state benefits.
Both the current
ConDem and previous Labour governments � despite hand‐wringing
about job losses � have slavishly allowed big business in Europe to
dictate the economic agenda. The EU rules �allowing� the ConDems to
hang Bombardier workers out to dry are the same ones used by the last
Labour government to start stealthily privatising the postal service.
And these are the same
EU rules used to pitch us into �a race to the bottom�. In fact,
Bombardier bid cheaper than Siemens on train design/build costs!
However, on maintenance Bombardier were marginally more expensive over
the 30‐year
lifetime of the contract because Siemens don�t recognise trade unions
in its British train maintenance workshops.
Bombardier�s train
technology is fully proven and compliant and their B5000 bogies are
tried and tested. Siemens are trying to develop their own bogies and
want to lure Bombardier procurement and compliance teams and engineers
to work for them (in Germany).
In the last five years
Germany has built 97% of its trains domestically, France 100% and
Spain 90%. British train building has almost been destroyed by nearly
two decades of rail privatisation.
So what
can we do? We need to unite around clear demands to support Bombardier
workers and their communities:
� The
government must immediately review and reverse its decision to award
�preferred bidder� status to Siemens over Bombardier for the
�Thameslink� contract. Trains paid for by our taxes should provide a
future of skilled employment in Derby for our children.
� To
protect the future of train building in Derby and the UK, Bombardier�s
Litchfield Lane plant should be re‐nationalised
with the democratic involvement of Bombardier�s workforce and shop
stewards� committee, not cut adrift in the global market place. Rolls
Royce was nationalised by a Tory government in 1971 when it faced a
financial crisis.
�
Bombardier say they are reviewing their whole UK operation and have
not ruled out closing it down completely. The books must be opened up
to public scrutiny so we can see where all the profits we made for
them have gone.
� Our
trade unions and the TUC must lead industrial and political action to
save the future of train building in Derby. We support the call for a
massive demonstration and rally in support of Bombardier workers at
the TUC Conference in London this September. We support the call of
UNITE General Secretary, Len McCluskey at the Durham Miners� Gala for
direct action to save these jobs if necessary by occupation as carried
out by Upper Clyde Shipbuilders in 1973.
� The
people of Derby and surrounding areas are marching with Bombardier
workers today. This must be the start of a massive campaign to protect
jobs, stop bosses riding roughshod over us and, to quote Bob Crow
again, �to save train building in the nation that
gave the railways to
the world.�
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Download this article as a leaflet
March and rally
to save Bombardier:
Saturday 23 July,
10:00 am, Bass�s Recreation Ground (opposite Derby bus station)
NSSN
meeting after the
rally:
THE FLOWERPOT
23-25 King St, Derby
DE1 3DZ 1:00pm, Speakers include Darren Barber, RMT shop steward at
Bombardier and
Alex Gordon, RMT President
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