Yahoo Finance Rolls-Royce Job Cuts: Union Says 400 Face Axe
Aerospace firm Rolls-Royce has confirmed it is in consultation over job cuts at one of its plants, after a union said nearly 400 workers are at risk.
Rolls-Royce sent an internal memo to its staff to detail its proposals, according to the Unite union.
The plan puts 378 defence jobs at risk at its Ansty plant, near Coventry, Unite said - nearly half of its 800-strong workforce.
The union blamed defence spending cuts by the Government and said Rolls-Royce was planning to shut the plant in the next few years.
Rolls-Royce said in a statement: "We are in consultation with trade unions over reductions in our defence workforce at Ansty.
"We hope to achieve this without compulsory redundancies."
The firm said its civil aerospace business in Ansty was not affected by the plan.
Ian Waddell, Unite's national officer for aerospace and shipbuilding, said: "The blame for the loss of these highly skilled jobs in the key defence sector lies with the Government and its short-sighted determination to ram through massive spending cuts in the defence budget.
"Once again, Unite calls for a coherent defence industrial strategy to be drawn up as matter of urgency to safeguard jobs and a defence industry at which Britain excels.
"This is vital - otherwise more high-skilled jobs will be lost, perhaps forever.
"There is a very long timescale for consultation and implementation, so we hope that compulsory redundancies will be avoided."
Mr Waddell added that "work from Germany will be transferred to Rolls-Royce's site at Bristol".
He said bosses at Rolls-Royce had acted "fairly" by giving as much notice as possible to the staff of the company's plans.
The 200-acre Rolls-Royce site at Ansty employs about 800 people and handles the refit and repair of both aeroplane and marine engines.
Components for the company's Trent (BSE: TRENT.BO - news) series of civil aviation engines are also manufactured on the site.
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