A bus builder is planning to axe nearly 300 jobs from its Scottish base, according to trade union Unite.
Alexander Dennis, Britain’s largest bus manufacturer, intends to cut a further 70 workers at its base in Falkirk in addition to 200 jobs previously announced as at risk. The firm employs 850 staff at its Scottish base.
Unite Scottish secretary Pat Rafferty said: “The prospect of Alexander Dennis further cutting its workforce by 70 jobs in addition to the 200 announced a number of weeks ago is staggering.
“Unite has worked day in and day out to ensure the company honours the agreed consultation processes with the workforce.
“The sole objective for all should be to maximise the efforts to save jobs and to financially support workers through redundancy.”
The trade union leader criticised a lack of action by the UK Government, stating Unite wrote to Alister Jack, the Secretary of State for Scotland, last month to invite him to discuss how the high-skilled jobs could be protected.
“The reality is that 75% of Alexander Dennis’ orders come from outside Scotland with the vast majority of it being in the rest of the UK,” Mr Rafferty added.
“Therefore, the lack of a response from Alister Jack to our overtures to support the workforce and the inaction by Boris Johnson in relation to the promised funding for 4,000 low-emission buses through a £3 billion fund is a shocking state of affairs.”
It said the Scottish Government should enact the Just Transition Committee’s recommendation to rapidly roll-out spending of the £500 million committed to prioritise buses.
The union also wanted a Scottish-wide bus scrappage scheme to be established to replace older diesel buses with low emission and zero-emission buses.
Other demands include the immediate procurement of a fleet of green buses for use at COP26 in Glasgow next November.
It also urged the acceleration of orders to bus manufacturers and the supply chain through the new Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme, which will provide £9m this year to help bus operators invest in ultra-low emission vehicles.
When the job cuts were announced in August, Alexander Dennis managing director Paul Davies said: “We have no choice but to implement these tough decisions to protect the company’s future health.
“We remain confident that the situation will improve in time, and we are well placed to take advantage when that happens, but right now we have to adjust to our new economic reality.”
Until last year Stagecoach founders Sir Brian Souter and Dame Ann Gloag owned more than half of the long-standing company until it was sold to Canadian firm NFI Group in a £320 million deal.
Alexander Dennis has been asked to comment.
