BMW car workers in Oxford have been asked to vote on new shift patterns, following predictions of an uplift in orders.

Permanent staff at the Mini plant in Cowley have been given the option of four different shift patterns, following “early signs of an upturn”.

However, rumours that agency staff had been taken on to help meet extra demand remain unconfirmed.

And workers have complained the changes will force them to work at weekends for the first time in years.

One worker, who has been at the plant for more than five years, said: “All in all, the weekend working is going to be a major pain.

“People want to look after their kids and socialise at the weekend. They are going to find it really hard.”

Staff were handed a seven-page document detailing the proposed changes on Wednesday.

They have been asked to state their preference for one of the four shift systems in a ballot by Friday. The results are due to be announced next Monday.

The document said: “Demand for Mini remains volatile, making it difficult to forecast volume for the second half of the year.

“However, we are anticipating an upturn from June onwards. This is why we need to keep our plant structure as flexible as possible as this is the only way to remain competitive and ensure job security for our core workforce and the plant.”

In February, 850 agency staff were told they were no longer required because of a fall in demand.

The weekend shift, known as the yellow shift, was axed and permanent staff on it were moved over to fill spaces left by the sacked agency workers on the weekday red and blue shifts.

There has been no weekend shift since, but each of the proposed new shift patterns include a compulsory working time account or overtime shifts on either Saturdays or Sundays.

A plant source said he believed more than 60 agency staff had been taken on by the carmaker in the past fortnight.

A BMW spokesman was not available for comment, but the company did release a statement.

It said: “The plant and its union representatives have come up with a range of shift pattern options, which the company could use during 2009, if the current uplift in orders continues.

“Mini is a built-to-order brand and as such Plant Oxford needs to have the right shift patterns in place to deal with fluctuations in customer demand and the high degree of market volatility.

“While we are seeing early signs of an upturn, we are still not in a position to require a full-time weekend crew, we may, however, need to build in the flexibility for some weekend production if demand continues to rise.”

  • More than 10,000 people have signed a petition urging BMW to reverse its decision to axe 850 workers from the Cowley Mini plant.

The online petition is being run by the Unite union, which also calls for “a dialogue with employees and their union about the future of the plant”.

On the website, a Unite statement says: “BMW’s decision to sack 850 agency employees at its Cowley factory in Oxford, giving many of them only an hour’s notice and with no intention to offer any of them a penny in redundancy pay, is an act of sheer industrial brutality.

“This is no way to deal with the worldwide difficulties in the motor industry.

“Please sign the petition and join the campaign to get BMW to treat people with respect, to put people before profit and to save manufacturing in this country.”

Plant spokesman Rebecca Baxter said she was aware of the petition but declined to comment further.