Union wants more support for former Inchinnan Rolls Royce workers

The vast majority of Rolls Royce workers who lost their jobs at Inchinnan have yet to find new employment, according to research highlighted by Unite Scotland.

Around 700 highly skilled positions were lost at the aerospace engineering plant following an announcement last June.

READ MORE: Rolls Royce confirms 700 jobs are to be axed at Inchinnan site

Unite Scotland is now demanding immediate action from the Scottish Government to support those who have been unable to find new jobs since then.

Research by leading academics at Glasgow and Newcastle involved 172 former Rolls Royce workers. The survey responses give a statistically significant sample size and highlight a number of employment, financial and health challenges facing the former Rolls Royce workers.

Survey suggests 'green jobs' bonanza yet to materialise

The survey also suggests that despite promises by the Scottish Government of a ‘green jobs’ bonanza the former Rolls Royce workers face ‘frustration’ in regard to available job opportunities in green energies, and that the skills of the workers are being under-utilised and at risk of being lost to the Scottish economy.

The research has concluded, the following:

• Only 12%, just 1 in 8 of those made redundant, reported equivalent or increased use of skills developed at Rolls Royce. Overall, there was a ‘clear trend towards deskilling’.

• Among the minority of respondents who had found work, the overwhelming majority, 4 out of 5 (82%), reported a significant reduction in income with 65% experiencing an annual income reduction of £10,000 or more and 24% experiencing a reduction of £20,000 or more. Shockingly, almost a third (28%) of those made redundant reported having no income at all.

• The survey captured the scale of the ‘psychological and social costs’ of the redundancies. Although many preferred not to say, around half (47%) of the survey respondents reported that they had suffered mental health issues as a direct result of the redundancies. The majority (52%) also reported that they were fearful or very fearful for their employment futures.

• Those that wished to work in renewable energy spoke of a need for experience in maintenance and operations coupled with a notable lack of jobs. Engineers who paid for and successfully undertook Global Wind Organisation (GWO) training in order to gain work in this sector had been unable to find employment.

• The research demonstrates that the majority of workers who lost their jobs at Inchinnan were unable to find alternative employment that has matched, or enhanced, their engineering skills.

Union bosses say workers are earning half of what they were, or in some cases nothing at all

Speaking to Clyde 1 News Pat Rafferty, Unite Scottish Secretary, said: ““These workers have gone from one level of income, utilising the skills that they’ve got, to not being able to be employed using those skills.

“In some cases their income has dropped by 50%, or in the worst case scenarios they’ve not been able to get a job at all.”

“You hear about green jobs recovery, I’ve seen figures going from 100,000 to 300,000 jobs. Well where are they?”

Scottish Government doing "everything possible" to minimise impact of job losses

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Since the initial announcement by Rolls-Royce, the Scottish Government and partners have worked with the firm to make sure everything possible is done to minimise the impact on jobs at Inchinnan, and its related supply chains.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the aerospace sector globally and the industry indications are that its recovery is being measured in years and not months. We continue to work alongside partners - including Unite - to try to preserve as many jobs as possible across the whole of Scotland’s aerospace sector.

“At Inchinnan, we are continuing to provide support to staff through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, which provides skills development and employability support to get people back into work as quickly as possible.

"This includes the National Training Transition Fund; a £25 million fund to help people take advantage of jobs available in growth areas of the economy, such as digital and green technologies.

“We are also doing everything within our existing, limited devolved powers to retain and boost job numbers and increase the Scottish presence in offshore wind and renewable energy projects. However, the main policy levers are reserved and we continue to call upon the UK Government to consider how the Contract for Difference (CfD) process can be restructured to consider the value added to the Scottish and UK economies and to encourage wider and more meaningful use of the Scottish and UK’s supply chains.”

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