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Union drivers consider action
Page 7
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• by Guy Sheppard Truck drivers who deliver Ford cars and vans are poised to take industrial action over nearly 150 redundancies despite being offered compensation which could be worth more than £60,000 each.
The dispute between the Transport & General Workers Union (T&G) and Ansa Logistics. Ford's dedicated vehicle delivery contractor, erupted after the car giant announced plans to slash its $1bn (£715m)-ayear European logistics budget. Part of the cost-cutting involves taking some Ansa jobs in-house at Ford's Dagenham car plant in Essex.
Ansa's 470 employees overwhelmingly voted for industrial action including a strike over the issue.
Ron Webb, TGWU national secretary for road transport, says a response to the ballot result will be decided in the next few days. He says that although Ford Fiesta production ceases at Dagenham at the end of this month (Feb), the number of Ford cars being delivered in the UK will remain static or increase. He argues that TUPE employment law, which protects pay and conditions when jobs are transferred to a new employer, is being flouted but stresses that the dispute is with Ansa, not Ford.
Ansa, which was launched in May 1999, says it is looking for around 50 redundancies at Halewood, Liverpool, and 95 at Dagenham. "There are a whole series of actions in place which we hope will mean that the whole thing will be dealt with purely on a voluntary basis," says non-executive chairman Robin Kemp.
Industry sources say redundancy packages are worth more than £60,000 for some employees with at least 20 years' service.
Although many of the Ansa jobs at Dagenham will be taken over by existing Ford employees, the overall number of jobs will be reduced, partly because loads will be consolidated on the Continent instead of in the UK.
There are around 210 truckers in Ansa with the remaining 260 employees made up of clerical staff and car drivers,