Cammell Laird Jobs – Letter to CEO

Mr John Syvret CEO
Cammell Laird
Campbeltown Road
Birkenhead
CH41 9BP

Dear John,

As the Member of Parliament for Halton, I am contacting you with deep concerns regarding the recent reports that a significant number of Cammell Laird’s staff are at risk of losing their jobs.

I have a number of constituents currently employed at your site and therefore potentially at risk of redundancy, as I understand the situation currently stands.

My understanding is that the proposal involves 291 employees, nearly 40% of the total workforce who are currently at risk.  As I am sure you are aware, if these jobs are lost, there will be a serious impact on the individual workers and their families and the local economy.

The recent award of two contracts to support and maintain ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary for the next ten years, worth a total of £619 million represented a welcome significant boost to this region.  As I am sure you agree following what has been a difficult time for UK shipbuilding, as well as the manufacturing sector more generally, this news was extremely welcome.

I read with interest your comments in the press following the awarding of the contracts and welcomed your statements regarding the contracts giving Cammell Laird the ability to continue your vital apprentice training programme, recruiting talented young people from the area. In addition, your comments about the contracts giving the ability to  maintain your commitment to ensure the money is invested responsibly in your workforce and infrastructure were very welcome.

Given this extremely positive news, the proposed redundancies have come as a shock and there is a considerable level of anxiety that the rationale for such a significant number of job losses has not been set out.

I would therefore urge you to engage proactively with the trade unions involved, not only to avoid the need for job losses to take place, but also to ensure that all workers, both permanent and agency, are kept fully informed of any developments.

Could you please also provide a response on the following:

Why did Cammell Laird not take the Union proposal, to mitigate jobs until February allowing them to suspend their industrial action notice?

Can you guarantee over the next 12 months that the Cammell Laird workforce will not consist of more than 10% agency workers?

What support can MPs provide to guarantee no compulsory redundancies?

If you make the proposed redundancies, how will you find labour to complete future contracts?

I look forward to your urgent response on this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Derek Twigg MP