Most of the 2,000 workers at the GM Vauxhall plant in Luton, England, which is slated to be closed, stayed away from work without pay for the January 25 action, as did an estimated 70 percent of workers at the IBC van plant next door, also owned by GM. The previous Saturday 10,000 marched through the streets of Luton to protest the closure.

Speaking at the demonstration, Vauxhall worker Ian Stanbridge said, "Which plant is going to be next? If you transfer to IBC how long will you have there? We must show our support." Several hundred Vauxhall employees will have the option of transferring jobs to IBC rather than being made redundant (unemployed). Stanbridge's views were echoed by Anita Gavin, who is married to a Vauxhall worker. "We thought they had jobs for life," she said. "Then we heard on the radio that they hadn't. Before we start thinking about redundancy or transferring to IBC, we should concentrate our efforts on saving jobs."

At Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port factory near Liverpool, England, workers on all shifts walked out at lunchtime, halting production. When the company announced the closing of the Luton plant in December, workers closed the Ellesmere Port plant for three shifts in solidarity. "The majority think we've got to stand together with the Luton workers or risk being picked off," said a worker in Ellesmere Port's body shop who joined the Luton demonstration with a number of workmates. "Management had promised us the Epsilon, but then they promised it to Luton too, and it hasn't done them any good. Management's promises aren't worth anything," said another worker who supported a "yes" vote in the ballot for industrial action.

Some 16,000 GM workers in Germany, including at GM's Eisenach facility in the former East Germany, stopped work for an hour to take part in demonstrations. Seven thousand downed tools in Antwerp, Belgium, as did 1,000 in Azambuja, Portugal, and 5,000 in Zaragoza, Spain. The statement issued by the European Workers Council urging participation in the action said, "In the interest of all other European sites we must resist GM's plans in common, because any plant in Europe could be similarly targeted in the future." A sign on the hat of one worker at a demonstration of 5,000 in Germany read: "Today Luton, tomorrow Russelsheim."

The big business media focused its news January 25 on Nissan Motor's announcement that it will continue to build the Micra small car at its factory in Sunderland, England. Speculation had been rife that, despite Sunderland being the most efficient car plant in Europe, production would be shifted to France, resulting in 1,300 workers being fired.

The company's decision to keep the plant open and expand production was conditional on costs being reduced by 30 percent, components being sourced from the Euro-zone, and receipt of a £40 million grant from the British government.

Several parts plants in the Sunderland area that supply Nissan are likely to be closed. "To make a profit, executives such as Nissan's Mr. Ghosn and Ford's Nick Scheele believe costs must fall sharply," the Financial Times bluntly wrote in a warning to the union. "Only then will UK car plants begin to generate the sort of profits that deliver shareholder returns to their parent companies."
 
 
Related articles:
Jobs for all!
Chrysler will cut 26,000 jobs by 2002
 
 
 
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