BAE workers ramp up closure fight

The 1,300 Brough staff plan to confront bosses and shareholders at the arms maker's AGM in London on May 2.

The mass meeting was addressed by Unite national officer for aerospace Ian Waddell, who linked their struggle with the 40th anniversary of the successful Upper Clyde Shipbuilders work-in.

He called on workers at Brough, the home of the Hawk trainer jet, to protect the plant's capability to build it.

BAE announced 3,000 job cuts last September, including 900 at Brough, where aircraft have been built for nearly a century.

But in January it said it would save 54 technical and engineering jobs.

Mr Waddell said later: "There is a real feeling that the workers have been treated badly by BAE Systems. They are determined to address this injustice.

"BAE Systems' reasons for closing Brough are deeply flawed. It will be far more expensive to move Hawk production elsewhere than they have estimated."

He added: "Our members at Brough deserve the right to have their case properly heard by the company.

"BAE have made it clear they expect them to simply accept their fate and meekly hand over the tools to enable the Hawk to be built elsewhere.

"There is no way we are going to allow that happen while the company refuses to talk to us meaningfully."

Unite said bosses had unilaterally ended talks with the union on the business case for ending manufacturing at Brough and BAE had opted for the most extreme choice, to close the site.

A BAE spokesman said there was "no viable and practical alternative" to closing the site.

tonyp@peoples-press.com