Shipbuilding contract comes under fire

The GMB general union has accused the government of selling UK jobs down the river after it announced its decision to shortlist four non-UK firms for a crucial £1 billion shipbuilding order. 


The union said that unlike domestic companies, all the shortlisted candidates have benefitted from support from their respective governments.


The contract to build the Royal Navy ships will go to either Korea, Japan, Spain or Italy. But the union said the order could be used to preserve UK military defence manufacturing capacity which is currently under threat.


The Appledore shipyard in North Devon is due to close in March, while a taskforce has been set up to try and secure the future of Cammell Laird after workers there were threatened with redundancy.


The GMB estimates that 1,800 shipbuilding jobs could be secured in the UK if a consortium, comprising Babcock, BAE Systems, Cammell Laird and Rolls-Royce, win the contract for Fleet Support Vessels which will supply the Royal Navy.


GMB research says that all the shortlisted non-UK bidders have enjoyed unfair advantages.


For example, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering of South Korea received a £2 billion bailout from the South Korean government in 2017; Navantia is 100% owned by the Spanish government; and Fincantieri is majority-owned by the Italian government. 


GMB national officer Ross Murdoch said government ministers “have the power to provide a future for workers in our historic yards”.

www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/government-betrays-shipyards