22.06.18
Up to 200 jobs at risk in Alstom Pendolino cuts
As many as 200 staff members could lose their jobs as one of the UK’s major train manufacturers looks to cut costs in its maintenance of the well-known Pendolino trains.
Alstom maintains the famous trains at five sites around the UK, including Wolverhampton, but in an effort to make maintenance efficient and more effective in the future, the company is looking to trim overheads in its upkeep of the high-speed trains.
The redundancies could stretch to as many as 200 staff— one-sixth of the 1,200-strong workforce across the country— but Alstom’s spokesman has stressed that the cuts are only in the proposal stages, and talks with unions are still ongoing.
“Alstom’s Pendolino fleet has been in service since 2002, and provides a high-performing service to our customer. Given the current market context, we need to improve the competitiveness and efficiency of our maintenance activities while providing the same level of service,” he said.
“We anticipate that this refocusing will unfortunately result in fewer jobs being required, and for this reason we have started consultations with trade unions and employees on a redundancy programme.”
Alstom has reiterated that the voluntary redundancies will be focused on first, adding: “Our top priority is to support our employees through what we know will be a difficult process for all concerned. But this proposal is the right one to give the Pendolino as long a life as possible and preserve as many jobs as possible.”
The company has five sites in the UK, with major locations at the Alstom Traincare Centre in Oxley, Wolverhampton, and a technology centre and training academy in Widnes.
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