More
than 12,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector have been lost so far this year.
According
to the latest survey, produced for trade union GMB by the independent Labour
Research Department, there were 5,563 job losses in February. It also found:
Eastern
England has been the hardest hit region so far with 1,917 job losses announced
among 16 companies
February
was a particularly tough month for Northern Ireland, where 1,000 job losses
were announced across four companies, two of which are relocating overseas
(Victor Stationery and Herdmans). In addition, car component company TK-ECC
announced closure, with 550 losses in Dundonald
Largest
job losses so far this year followed the closure of manufacturing/engineering
company Airflow Systems - a total of 1,030 people lost their jobs in
Northampton, Loughborough and Chesterfield.
Kevin
Curran, general secretary of the GMB, said: "UK manufacturing is in crisis
as the outsourcing phenomenon continues to drain jobs and livelihoods from our
heartlands. We have the skills, capacity and experience here to keep these
jobs. All we need is the determination from chief executives and the Government
to ensure that our manufacturing sector can thrive.
"We
cannot continue to fail to deal with the underlying issues, such as isolated
training and apprenticeships, failure to adopt the euro, and a lack of
commitment from Government and chief executives to halt the outsourcing
phenomenon and promote UK workers. Without which, manufacturing will continue
to crumble and weaken the entire UK economy."
By Quentin Reade
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