Nanjing refuses to meet unions

Apr 24 2008 By Jon Griffin

NANJING has refused to talk to unions about the long delayed Longbridge MG project for nearly six months, because the HR manager is on maternity leave.

The Chinese car firm has rebuffed all requests for meetings from senior Unite UK car industry negotiator Dave Osborne since last November.

Union bosses today revealed that the reason cited by the Chinese is that HR Manager Louise Lane is absent on maternity leave.

Gerard Coyne, regional secretary for the T&G arm of Unite the union, said today: "It's utter nonsense. She is on maternity leave, and the response has been that 'we cannot discuss anything until she returns'.

"This is not about HR matters. It's about the strategy, it's about what the future holds for Longbridge. They clearly are struggling to operate in a democratic environment. We are not talking about individual workplace issues here, but the HR Manager is having a baby, so we cannot have a meeting with them.

"Dave Osborne sent them several letters since SAIC took over and he wrote to them again relatively recently. He has not had any response at all. You kind of get the feeling that nobody is in a position to make any statements. The media's experience of Nanjing is mirrored by ours. We are as much in the dark as is humanly possible."

Mr Coyne said unions were anxious for answers to key questions following Nanjing's joint decision with parts specialist Stadco to scrap the body shell assembly at Longbridge, with the potential loss of 30 jobs.

"There are bigger questions that flow from this decision. Will there be manufacturing? Will there be research and development facilities? Or is it just going to be screwdriver assembly?"

Mr Coyne said Nanjing should relinquish its land for regeneration - and potential new jobs - if volume production was no longer on the cards.

Nanjing's UK Director of Communications Eleanor De La Haye could not be contacted for comment.