200 jobs to go at Jaguar Land Rover

Nov 13 2010 by Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail

UP to 200 agency workers are losing their jobs across Jaguar Land Rover’s Midland factories in the run-up to Christmas despite nearly £500 million of profits in the last six months.

The workers are being sacrificed to make way for 200 full-time employees who transferred from Land Rover to the Jaguar plant at Castle Bromwich to help with the launch of the new XJ.

But dozens of contract workers are furious that they face a bleak Christmas on the dole while JLR prepares to pump in £5 billion for a range of new models after backtracking on plans to close the Jaguar plant at Castle Bromwich.

One worker said: “There are up to 200 agency staff across Solihull and Castle Bromwich losing their jobs before Christmas and this is driving a bitter wedge between the workforce.

“It all seems very one-sided and upsetting. This seems to happen year in year out.

“We work just as hard as the permanent staff and for so many to lose our jobs at this time of year is awful.

“JLR are happy to boast about their profits but they don’t give the other side of the coin, which is the effect this will have on many families in the West Midlands.”

Another worker said: “Some of us have been working for them for years.

“We are doing the same jobs as the permanent workers; it’s disgraceful.”