[26
JUL 00] PEUGEOT NEWS
Peugeot Workers Vote To Strike
BY ARRYN BUGGINS
Talks
between managers and trade union officials are continuing following a
knife-edge vote by Peugeot staff at Ryton for strike action.
That
should lead to a stoppage tomorrow and Friday ahead of all-out action
from August 21. But with such a close vote, management want to talk
and see if the stoppage can be avoided.
The
voting revealed today showed there were 1,270 workers in favour of
action, with only 31 fewer wanting to accept the latest deal brokered
by management and union leaders.
It
was third ballot following months of talks between management and
unions leaders. They had a new deal to cut the number of compulsory
Friday nights for weekday staff, and extra Mondays for weekend staff.
Management
had previously said they would go ahead and issue the new contracts to
be effective from August 21. They are said to be in line with the
deals on French colleagues.
With
the Ryton-produced 206 model proving popular, extra staff were taken
on to meet demand and those workers were set to be given full
contracts under the new deal. Some 3,000 people now work at the plant.
Workers
have been warned they were playing with fire by threatening strike
action for the first time in 20 years. While the West Midlands
automotive industry remains in a precarious position, few can believe
that workers would threaten to go on strike.
Chris
Edwards, Peugeot spokesman said:
“We
are talking to the unions at this stage over the implications of
what was a finely balanced vote, it was virtually 50-50.
“We
are in discussions over what could extremely damaging industrial
action.”
He
declined to say if this meant tomorrow’s strike action could still
be averted.
Duncan
Simpson, chief negotiator for the AEEU said he was worried about the
possible impact of the strike on job security.
He
said that British workers were more easily sacked by multinational
companies than their French or German counterparts.
Unions
had urged the Ryton workers, the most productive in the UK, to accept
the new contracts.
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