Talks between Visteon and unions have broken down after the car plant offered a “very poor” deal for redundant workers, the Unite union has said.
Hopes were high yesterday that the former workers at the plant, which used to be owned by car giant Ford, would still benefit from a redundnacy package after it emerged that Ford apparently promised to guarantee pay and conditions for the workers when it sold Visteon nine years ago.
But talks taking place in London to resolve the dispute at three Visteon sites broke down on Wednesday night, according to the BBC.
However, union representatives are still due to meet with Ford executives today to secure a deal.
Roger Madison from Unite told the broadcaster: “The talks last night broke down with a very poor offer from Visteon. It falls well short of what we were expecting and we were demanding.”
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Workers in Belfast, Basildon and Enfield have been staging sit-in protests after Visteon made 600 people redundant without enhanced redundancy pay after it went into administration in the UK.
Madison added: “If it hadn’t been for the sit-ins we wouldn’t even have had this meeting with Visteon. It may well be that our fight has to move on to Ford, but the sit-in is important at the moment.”
