Belfast Councillors To Debate Visteon Workers' Plight

City Hall is throwing its weight behind west Belfast car workers protesting against compulsory redundancy terms.

Belfast City Council will meet today (Thursday) to discuss the recent upsurge in job losses across the city.

Car components firm Visteon closed three plants last Tuesday, making 600 workers redundant, including 210 in Finaghy.

Demonstrating workers at the plant in west Belfast are said to be of particular concern to councillors as two separate motions are to be discussed.

One is calling on the Stormont Executive to respond effectively to planned redundancies and the other is backing Visteon employees in their monetary demands.

However, the move comes against a background of news that the union representing the workers is hopeful of a settlement.

Roger Madison of Unite told BBC Radio Ulster this morning that he has been holding talks with Visteon management in New York and said they would be meeting managers in the UK on Tuesday.

"They are prepared to sit down and negotiate some form of settlement to this," he said.

Workers at the plant are unhappy that they will only get statutory redundancy as Visteon UK is in administration.

There have been a series of rallies and sit-ins at the factories in protest about the redundancies and the pay-off deal offered by receivers.

Staff continue to refuse to leave the car parts plant near Dunmurry since being informed of their redundancies last week.

However, workers occupying a plant owned by the bankrupt parts supplier Visteon in Enfield, north London, face a court-set deadline to leave the plant in a bid to end a protest.

Leaders of the protesting workers are being threatened with jail by the High Court if they do not quit the premises.

No such threat has been made to date in Belfast, where the sit-in action initially began.

See: Car Workers Sit-In Supported

(BMcC/JM)