Rolls-Royce: Barnoldswick workers to strike over Singapore jobs move

Workers at two UK Rolls-Royce factories are to go on strike over plans to move some production to Singapore.

The engineering giant announced plans to merge its plants in Barnoldswick, Lancashire, and cut 350 jobs in August.

The Unite union said its members would go on strike for three weeks from 6 November and would not allow the firm to "destroy the viability of the site without a huge fight".

The company said its employees needed "to work with us, not against us".

In June, the engineering giant said it would be cutting 3,000 jobs across the UK as it tried to come to terms with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The firm later announced said it would stop making wide chord fan blades for new jet engines at its Bankfield site in Barnoldswick and move the work to Singapore by 2023.

The move would also see its Ghyll Brow base incorporated into its Bankfield site.

Unite regional officer Ross Quinn said the union had "given Rolls-Royce every opportunity to change its plans" and commit to the "long-term future" of the sites.

"Barnoldswick is the cradle of the jet engine and the workforce and the local community will not allow Rolls-Royce to destroy the viability of the site without a huge fight," he added.

A Rolls-Royce spokesman said the firm was "disappointed to receive notice of industrial action... and remain committed to meaningful consultation".

He said the firm had "no plans" to close the factories, adding: "Our people in Barnoldswick will play an important role in developing fan blades for our future jet engines [and] we ask them to work with us, not against us as we deal with the impact of the pandemic."

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