Support has flowed in for workers who were let go just days before Christmas at Jaguar Land Rover's Halewood plant.
Dozens of agency staff were told they would no longer be required at the plant on December 21, with their final shifts being the following day. The workers had believed their contracts would run until at least April 2023, but were summoned to a meeting and told they would be out of jobs just days before Christmas.
One of those agency staff, called Lee, said it was "humiliating" to be told his job was ending just days before Christmas but that he would only be paid in January if he and the other agency workers finished that same shift and the final one the following day.
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The dad, from the Kirkby area, has four children - including two under the age of two - and is now worried about providing for them. He said: "It's really tough at Christmas, with young kids - I've already applied for a few positions but with places shutting down for a while I will be left short."
Speaking about the ending of the agency contracts, a spokesperson for Jaguar Land Rover said: "As is normal business practice Jaguar Land Rover regularly takes on temporary agency personnel to provide extra, flexible support when required. The requirement for a temporary workforce has now changed resulting in a reduction in agency assignments.”
The news has prompted strong reactions and a flow of support from ECHO readers for the agency workers. Commenting on Facebook, Pauline Maynard said: "This is heartbreaking to read for everyone, why wait until just before Christmas?" Denise Donnelly had a similar question, she said: "Why do they hit People with this at Christmas, as if things aren't bad enough?
Jayne Brown added: "Thoughts are with all employees at this sad time." Mick Ellinson left a message for worker Lee, simply saying: "So sad.. Hope you find something soon."
As well as agency contracts being cut short, JLR have also just announced significant cutbacks to shifts for its permanent workers.
Workers at the plant have been told that in January 2023 the number of shifts available will be cut. While the Halewood plant currently operates two daily shifts, this will be cut back to just one from January 16.
Not only does this mean that workers will have less shifts available, but the single day shifts will also not attract a shift premium that is currently paid, representing a potentially significant loss to those staff members.
A message sent by the Halewood Leadership Team to staff said it currently foresees the plant operating on a single, day shift basis until the end of March 2023, with further updates to follow.
One staff member, who has worked at the Halewood plant for eight years, explained what this will mean for him and others. He told the ECHO: "For the last 3 months or so we've worked on a 'week on, week off' basis, with us still being split into 2 shifts, A and B. If we were in we got shift premium, if we weren't we got flat rate. From January 16 we'll still be on the same shift pattern but without the shift premium, meaning everyone is paid the same regardless of whether we're in or not.
"It was bad enough losing the shift pay every other week, this pay is around £120 a week on average. Now we're losing it every week. That's nearly £500 a month for some people. Some of us are having to take on gig work to make up the shortfall."
JLR is being hit hard by a global shortage of semi-conductors that is causing major problems for the automotive industry.
A spokesperson for the company said: "We continue to actively manage the operational patterns of our manufacturing plants whilst the industry experiences global semi-conductor supply chain disruption. Demand for our vehicles remains strong and we expect our performance to continue improving in the second half of our financial year, as new agreements with semiconductor partners take effect.
“This year Jaguar Land Rover activated the second-year terms of its Pay and Conditions agreement with employees, which saw colleagues awarded an inflation-beating 12.6% basic pay increase to mitigate rising living costs.”
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