09/04/2009

Belfast Councillors To Debate Visteon Workers' Plight

City Hall is throwing its weight behind west Belfast car workers protesting against compulsory redundancy terms.

Belfast City Council will meet today (Thursday) to discuss the recent upsurge in job losses across the city.

Car components firm Visteon closed three plants last Tuesday, making 600 workers redundant, including 210 in Finaghy.

Demonstrating workers at the plant in west Belfast are said to be of particular concern to councillors as two separate motions are to be discussed.

One is calling on the Stormont Executive to respond effectively to planned redundancies and the other is backing Visteon employees in their monetary demands.

However, the move comes against a background of news that the union representing the workers is hopeful of a settlement.

Roger Madison of Unite told BBC Radio Ulster this morning that he has been holding talks with Visteon management in New York and said they would be meeting managers in the UK on Tuesday.

"They are prepared to sit down and negotiate some form of settlement to this," he said.

Workers at the plant are unhappy that they will only get statutory redundancy as Visteon UK is in administration.

There have been a series of rallies and sit-ins at the factories in protest about the redundancies and the pay-off deal offered by receivers.

Staff continue to refuse to leave the car parts plant near Dunmurry since being informed of their redundancies last week.

However, workers occupying a plant owned by the bankrupt parts supplier Visteon in Enfield, north London, face a court-set deadline to leave the plant in a bid to end a protest.

Leaders of the protesting workers are being threatened with jail by the High Court if they do not quit the premises.

No such threat has been made to date in Belfast, where the sit-in action initially began.

See: Car Workers Sit-In Supported

(BMcC/JM)

Related Northern Ireland News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

14 November 2024
Belfast Christmas Market Announces Dublin Express As Official Travel Partner
Belfast Christmas Market is set to celebrate its 20th anniversary in style, with the announcement of Dublin Express as its official travel partner. Opening its gates on November 16th at 12 noon, the market is expected to attract over a million visitors.
31 March 2009
'Disappointment' At West Belfast Job Losses
News that almost 600 jobs have been axed at car parts manufacturer Visteon after one of its subsidiaries in the UK was put into administration has gone down badly in Belfast. The American-owned company employed roughly 600 people in its three branches in Basildon, Enfield and in a factory in west Belfast.
06 April 2009
Visteon Protest Continues
As recession-hit workers in west Belfast continue their protest sit-in for its seventh day, it has emerged that talks in New York this week could decide their fate. The workers are occupying car plants in demand for improved redundancy payments and even held a family fun day on Sunday with speakers supporting their demands for better pay-offs.
16 April 2009
Visteon Settlement Rejected
The union representing former workers at Visteon has rejected an offer of cash payments by the firm's US owners A Unite union spokesman called the offer "derisory" and that it added "insult to injury" even though it would have meant most of the protesting workers at the doomed Belfast factory being offered individual cash payments.
14 November 2024
Traffic Warning For South Belfast Ahead Of Northern Ireland Match
Road users are advised to plan for potential traffic delays in the south Belfast area on Friday, 15th November due to the UEFA Nations League football match between Northern Ireland and Belarus. The match will take place at Windsor Park, kicking off at 7.45pm, and it is expected that around 18,000 supporters will attend.