The
T & G union have called on the government to sign up to the Information and
Consultation directive after Motorola announced the loss of 3,000 jobs in
Scotland.
The
US mobile phone giant confirmed that it is closing its factory in Bathgate,
West Lothian today.
Jimmy
Elsby, the T & G union assistant general secretary accused Motorola of
riding roughshod over the workforce in West Lothian.
“Once
again we are seeing a multi-national sweeping away thousands of jobs with the
stroke of a pen. The T & G believe
the government could do something with a stroke of its pen and sign up to the
Information and Consultation directive to give us some say in the decisions of
these global companies,” said Elsby.
Earlier
this month, Prime Minister Tony Blair personally intervened by pleading for
jobs to be safeguarded when Motorola announced that it was considering job
cuts.
The
union also accused Motorola of bad practice by failing to inform the workforce
of their fate.
“Our
members at Motorola have been phoning our office having heard the news of their
fate on television and radio. This is a
scandalous way to communicate with workers,” added the T & G.
The
union accused Motorola of disregarding the feelings of their workforce by
refusing to meet up with them before the announcement of the job cuts.
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