BMW CULL: Poor show at East Oxford job club (From Oxford Mail)

BMW CULL: Poor show at East Oxford job club

6:23pm Thursday 26th February 2009

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Just six people went to a new scheme set up to help hundreds of former BMW workers find work.

The East Oxford Job Club was launched within 48 hours of BMW’s announcement last Monday that it was axing 850 jobs at its Cowley Mini Plant.

'All these workers are shouting and whingeing, but no one could be bothered to come to an event which has been put on for them'

Simon Page

The club – a joint Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire Economic Partnership (OEP) initiative – was intended to provide weekly advice to the unemployed about which benefits to claim, how to re-train and what type of work to look for.

A similar initiative in Banbury, also run by OEP, attracted 300 people to its first session in January.

But only half-a-dozen people made the journey to Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre for the three-hour sesion today.

Jane Mnyakazi, a trainee adminstrator at the Ethnic Minority Business Service, said: “We were expecting to have more here. Maybe 20 or something.

“Next time it should be held in the Cowley area, where you can grab people off the street.”

Tom Harlos, manager of the Oxford branch of Champion Recruitment, said: “There was a bit of a low turnout. I was expecting something in the region of at least 50 people.”

Representatives of agencies including Jobcentre Plus, Oxford and Cherwell Valley College and the county council’s Trading Standards department packed up 20 minutes before the scheduled end of the event after the no-show.

Some stallholders described the turnout as “disappointing” and questioned whether the event was publicised correctly.

Simon Page, 43, from Starwort Path, Blackbird Leys, a former BMW worker who did turn up, said he was planning to set up his own classic car restoration business after speaking to people at the job club.

He said: “I just cannot believe it. All these workers are shouting and whingeing, saying: ‘look at the way I have been treated’, but no one could be bothered to come to an event which has been put on for them.

“They should have come.

“It has opened my eyes to a few things.”

Jamie Macfarlane, 28, from Hollow Way, Cowley, was also looking for work after losing his job at BMW.

He said: “I am surprised there wasn’t a bigger turnout. The job market is looking pretty dire. There is just not a lot on offer.”

Last week about 2,000 people attended an Oxford Mail job fair at Oxford Town Hall.

Dawn Pettis, business engagement and support manager for OEP, said: “It’s a pity, in the sense that the Banbury one has been so successful. I need to go back to talk about why people didn’t turn up.”

A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council said: “We are happy with the first job club event and would encourage more people to come forward and take advantage of the wide range of advice on offer at subsequent events.

“Our aim is to help people find work.”

ghamilton@oxfordmail.co.uk

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