London Mayor signs Making It charter to boost economy & support jobs

The Mayor joined GMB union activists at a City Hall event this morning (14 March), where he formally backed the union’s campaign to support manufacturing jobs by signing the union’s Making It  charter.

Food manufacturing is now the largest manufacturing sub-sector in London, employing 24,000 people.

Other significant manufacturing strands in the capital include fabricated metal products (14,000 jobs), printing and reproduction of recorded media (10,000 jobs), wearing apparel (6,000 jobs) and computer, electronic and optical products (5,000 jobs).

Among the top manufacturing hot spots around London are Ealing (13,000 jobs with a £765m boost), Harrow and Hillingdon (10,000 jobs and a £891m boost), Barking, Dagenham and Havering (8,500 jobs and a £923m boost) and Brent (8,000 jobs and a £576m boost).

Jude Brimble, GMB National Secretary said: “It’s often said that we don’t make anything here anymore, but that’s wrong. Our Making It campaign reveals the truth about manufacturing and celebrates the work GMB members proudly do every day.”

He added: “At a time when insecure work and the so-called ‘gig-economy’ are growing, manufacturing workers are often skilled workers in full-time employment and on permanent contracts. Wages in manufacturing are on average 20% higher than in the wider economy – these jobs are worth fighting for.”

Shaun Graham, GMB London Region Senior Organiser said: “The idea behind the Making It campaign is to bring together the industrial and political agendas in support of UK manufacturing.

“GMB wants to ensure that our members who work in manufacturing, businesses and politicians are aligned to a positive vision of UK manufacturing for now and into the future.

“We know from the Government Impact Assessment that UK manufacturing will potentially experience significant negative impacts as a result of Brexit, so this cooperation is more important than ever.

“The potential impact on the UK food industry is of particular concern for GMB London and thousands of our members who work in food production in North West London – any adverse impacts will have a massive impact on those workers and their tight knit communities.”