Ford told to ‘come clean’ over factory closures and the future of its British operations

Ford told to ‘come clean’ over factory closures and the future of its British operations as it faces pressure to cut costs in Europe

Unions are calling on Ford to ‘come clean’ over the future of its British operations

Unions are calling on Ford to ‘come clean’ over the future of its British operations amid fears that factories could be closed.

In a statement to workers across Ford’s five British plants, Unite and GMB warned this weekend that they were ‘ballot ready’ and prepared to fight factory closures and compulsory redundancies.

The threat comes after The Mail on Sunday revealed last week that the car maker is set to shed up to 650 salaried staff this month through a voluntary redundancy scheme that has been offered to thousands of workers. 

It currently has a British workforce of about 12,000.

The Michigan-headquartered motoring giant is under pressure to cut costs in Europe, where it lost $398million (£305million) last year, compared with a $367million profit in 2017. 

It has already announced plans to cut 5,000 jobs in Germany.

A Ford spokesman said: ‘We are making the tough choices to invest in the vehicles, services, segments and markets that best support a long-term sustainably profitable Ford business in Europe, creating value for all of our stakeholders – including our employees.’ 

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