Airbus union in UK calls for French, German style job support

Airbus SE’s main U.K. union called for “French and German style intervention” in the aerospace industry to avoid the loss of thousands of aerospace industry jobs.

Staffing cutbacks at the European planemaker’s sites in Broughton and Filton will generate a loss of around 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion) to the local economy, according to a study commissioned by labor union Unite.

Airbus said last week it plans to eliminate 15,000 positions across its commercial aviation division, with 1,730 jobs to go at the company’s U.K. locations. The decision will result in 81.3 million pounds in lost wages in the country, the study from Acuity Analysis found.

The demands come as U.K. Chancellor Rishi Sunak prepares to unveil plans to get Britain through what could be the worst recession in 300 years. The Chancellor, who speaks Wednesday, faces calls to extend the furlough scheme beyond October for specific sectors. Unite is also calling for a specific aerospace fund which could take equity stakes in companies.

“Aerospace has been hemorrhaging jobs in recent weeks in communities up and down the country,” said Unite national officer for aerospace Rhys McCarthy in emailed comments. “Unless the government acts now, as our competitor governments are doing in France and Germany, the jobs lost in recent days will be a drop in the ocean.”

Aerospace has been among the hardest-hit sectors on the virus, with a knock-on effect from grounded flights leading airlines to delay plane orders and manufacturers to slash jobs. Now, the supply chain looks even more vulnerable with the latest job losses set to filter down to small suppliers without large financial cushions.

“There is a real danger that the aerospace supply-chain will collapse before the end of the year unless the Job Retention Scheme is extended beyond October,” said Unite in the statement.