Job losses at Belfast car plant
Union leaders say workers intend to occupy the Visteon car parts factory in Belfast until an agreement over redundancy is reached.
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Visteon UK Ltd entered into administration on Tuesday, affecting three factories across the UK.
The company, which produces car components, employs 610 people in Belfast, Basildon and Enfield.
The Belfast plant, which is based on the Finaghy Road, employs 210 people.
The company has struggled since Visteon was separated from car giant Ford in 2000.
The UK business has not been profitable since 2000 and has reported losses totalling £669m.
John Hansen, joint administrator, said: "The entire automotive supply chain has been under pressure for a number of years. In the current economic downturn, car sales have dropped dramatically, which has caused further severe pressure on parts suppliers."
Due to the size of the continuing losses, the administrators have decided to close the three factories, resulting in approximately 565 redundancies.
The remaining employees will assist the administrators in the orderly wind-down of the business.
Various restructurings were attempted but none have been successful.
Davy McMurray, Unite regional organiser, called on Ford as the sole recipient of Visteon parts to show generosity.
"Ford have a moral responsibility to these people and they are avoiding any responsibility.
"People are shattered and shocked to be told this this afternoon (Tuesday)."
He added workers should be entitled to Ford's redundancy packages and said shop stewards were holding emergency meetings.
"We are completely and totally shocked, nobody was expecting this".
West Belfast Sinn Fein MLAs Jennifer McCann and Paul Maskey and SDLP representative Alex Attwood visited workers inside the plant to discuss the situation.
The wider group has a 33,500-strong workforce and operations in 27 countries.
© UTV News