BMW job losses: Workers' 'disgusted' (From Oxford Mail)

feel sorry for these guys!

they should get the jobs of those idol posties that keep **** and striking. give their jobs to decent people that want to work.

The last time temporary agency workers were told of there impending time off they responded by trashing company property, what do you think they would have done having been given a shift's notice??? yes correct, took it out on there employers property again. They have to remember when the agencies took them on they were TEMPORARY workers, the agency got a large slice of cash and nothing was permanent. yes I am sorry the world is in recession and it hurts some more than others.

It has been handled very bad for weeks, This has been no surprise to anyone, it has been spoken about at management levels since christmas but with threats from the assembly director amongst others, we the middle management have been unable to pass on any information.

i do agree with what you say, workers knew that the contracts were TEMPORARY, and they could be laid off with NO notice (i should know it happened to me up there a year ago in BiW) although its not nice to only be given an hours notice but they must have known it was coming, its been on the cards since the end of last year.

It was totally wrong the way this was handled and to be told 30mins before the end of shiftis a disgrace.

When sales do increase its BRITISH JOBS FOR BRITISH WORKERS!

Davebmw wrote:
It was totally wrong the way this was handled and to be told 30mins before the end of shiftis a disgrace. When sales do increase its BRITISH JOBS FOR BRITISH WORKERS!

Totally agree with you there, BRITISH JOBS FOR BRITISH WORKERS!

worked there for 14 months got out 7 months ago
took a job with less pay
boy i got lucky feel for you guys but i knew as well as most temporary worker
they where never going to take us on full time

As a guy said in the footage, the union works for BMW, has been involved in too many 'deals' and now the remaining members can have no confidence in them. Surely Bernard Moss etc, must resign for the integrity of Unite (the union)

I have sympathy for the guys who have lost there job. Although everyone in Plant Oxford knew what was going to happen it was more a matter of when, not if, it was going to happen. BMW,Plant Oxford, Bernod Moss, unite, are not responsible for the GLOBAL ECONOMIC MELTDOWN. Difficult decisions have to be made and this is what BMW have decided to do in an attempt to keep Plant Oxford a profitable business, this in turn, saving many more jobs for a longer term. I would have thought or liked to see BMW offering some kind of redundency package to the people who have been there for many years and actually want to leave. So you get a more mutual loss of jobs and retain younger enthusiastic workforce (if you ask all the older and loyal associates, they will all agree.) To clarify to all reading this. All associates were told at the end of the Sunday nightshift but are still being paid. Rightly or wrongly it was to noone's suprise.Clearly this has happened at many companies, after being told difficult news, people have decided to damage the property, goods and products. This is a reasonable decision even if not a welcome decision. As for the comments British jobs for British people.....STUPID. If you work hard no matter what nationality, race or creed you deserve to reap the benefit of keeping your job. In Plant Oxford their is a wide variety of nationalities and cultures. Reward should be given and based on your work efforts and nothing else.

Still it’s very embarrassing that it’s happened during the watch of a Labour government-it happened all the time in Thatcher’s Britain.
Rightly or wrongly BMW had a reputation of being a very well organized, flexible & caring company-even if the economy ever recovers, I doubt that BMW will ever rehabilitate it’s reputation.

I worked for Manpower at BMW for over 3 years. I never had time off sick was never late and knew all the jobs in my section and others. I left last year after finally realising that a full time contract was still a long time away.

I understand fully where these laid off workers are coming from and sympathise with them all.

I know (and so did they) that they were temporary workers but when you work there you are given a lot of false information regarding full time contracts.

The union at BMW is a total waste of time and money, they are just contracted workers who can't be bothered to do hard work and prefer to sit in an office all day and then say that they are 'representing' the workforce.

The only workforce they actually represent is the contracted BMW workers. Why do they even recruit agency workers when they start? Simple, for extra money.

I took many agency workers issues to the union and not one was resolved!!

When it came i to pay deals, the BMW staff had meetings and votes on whether or not to accept what was offered. Agency workers were simply told 'this is what you are getting'.

I remember one year the union called agency staff to a meeting about pay. BMW workers receive a yearly bonus in excess of £500 around Christmas time. When we asked where our bonus was (not expecting £500 but atleast £100-£200) Bernard Moss said 'I don't like bonuses!!'. Did you refuse yours then Bernard?

There were always issues with agency holiday pay, which are too compliceted to go into but once again I took this to the union on behalf of alot of workers and once again nothing happened. As long as it didn't affect BMW workers (ie. themselves) they don't care!!

We once asked if the agency could have their own union representative, someone to put the temps view across. Guess what? No way, we were laughed at!!

I notice Bernard Moss has said that a vote was taken on how to deal with the fall in demand. It was voted to change the shift pattern. He didn't mention that this vote was solely for BMW contracted workers to participate in (again him and his colleagues). He also failed to say that the union advised voters to vote for a shift change.

Whilst the Union are not fully to blame for what has happened at Cowley, they certainly didn't try to help the agency workers, they never do.

Another question...

Why didn't Manpower try to help their own staff. They are supposed to be a recruitment agency, rather than try to find these doomed workers a new placement over the last couple of months, they just sat back and watched them fall. To add insult to injury they then tell their staff;

1) Must hand in overalls/keys or have £35 deducted from their final wage packet.

2) Must pay back 33 WTA hours if they are owed.

With all the shutdowns last year and lack of opportunity for WTA hours to be banked, I would say it's a safe bet that most, if not all the laid off workers receive nothing in their final wage!!!!

Finally, BMW themselves. It doesn't take an idiot to work out that a leisure item like a mini, will not sell forever. Over the past few years the production has been ramped up and up. They have a duty to the Oxford workforce and the local economy. Why build over 50 cars an hour when they are not selling??

In summary, it is not solely the Union's, Manpowers or BMW's fault that there are now over 800 people out of work in Oxford.

It is down to them all.

Manpower grabbing every last penny they could out of BMW.

BMW grabbing every last penny they could from their customers.

Unite grabbing as many subscriptions they could from a doomed workforce.

I hope now people will see these 3 organisations for what they really are. Greedy fat cats who don't care who they hurt in their quest for pound notes!!!

I'v worked there for over 24 years in body&white now i'm told i'v got to go to A bld .... yes i'v still got my job??? But us ones who have been there a long time are being sh.t on to.... And we don't get the backing of the UNION