‘Cut rate or lose 100,000 jobs’ – union

Manufacturing News, Source : TheManufacturer.com
Published : 07 Nov 2002 8:45

The skilled workers union Amicus has again warned the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England to cut the interest rate by at least one half of one per cent later today to stem the tide of job losses in manufacturing.

Back in October Amicus predicted 50,000 job cuts in the manufacturing industry due to pressure on exports because of the value of the pound but says recent figures show that it has in fact been double that in just three months. The union, which has been calling for a cut in the interest rate for six months, said the interest rate in the UK is causing irreparable damage to a manufacturing industry that has already suffered a recent spate of job losses this year including Black and Decker. “Unless something is done today we can expect another 100,000 jobs to go in the manufacturing industry over the next three months,'' said general secretary Roger Lyons. Recent economic indicators reveal a continued decline in manufacturing output since 2001 and a growing gap in the house prices between London and the south East and the North of England and Scotland, he went on. The jobs haemorrhage in manufacturing was creating a chasm between the relatively prosperous south east and the other regions of the UK.

Comments on this story

click here to add a comment