Motor Industry - Ryton closure moved forward
WORKERS, NOV 2006 ISSUE
Peugeot-Citroen's Ryton car plant in Coventry is to close in January 2007. The closure decision has been brought forward by six months and follows the vote by Ryton workers not to resist job losses and closure.
Peugeot justifies its early closure decision on the basis that the remaining 800 strong workforce are seeking earlier redundancy. The redundancy packages on offer and the company's claims to have assisted its workforce to relocate and find alternative employment mean in practice that the responsibility for the closure rests as much with the workers as with the company's pursuit of profit.
If British workers are not prepared to defend their industries – the Ryton plant has been working for over 100 years – then the question has to be asked whether this is suicide or whether British workers have forsaken their responsibility to control their own destiny and ability to produce.