Deadline for resolution of land issue now is 10am tomorrow morning [October 10th]
Increasing numbers of workers now face prospect of going to food banks after two weeks without work
Unite Regional Officer for Wrightbus, George Brash, urged Jeff Wright to urgently resolve the issue of land ownership currently standing in the way of a sale of Wrightbus by the administrator
“We understand that the deadline to resolve the current impasse over the site ownership at Wrightbus is now set for 10am tomorrow morning. The issue of the land is now the only barrier to a sale that will safeguard the jobs and livelihoods of this workforce.
“But this is not just about the jobs of the workers, the wages they bring home to their families sustains thousands of jobs elsewhere in Ballymena and further afield. This is a fight to save the wider Ballymena economy which has withstood the impact of the loss of Patton group, JTI-Gallaher, Michelin and other companies in recent years. We can’t afford to see these jobs go.
“Today increasing numbers of workers are coming up to me to say that they are now considering going to a food bank to get by and secure the needs of their families. One worker with two young children and a heavy mortgage was heading to a job fair and then trying to get opening times for food banks in the area having received only £20 in JSA over the past two weeks. Our younger members in particular are distraught, they have worked extremely hard through a coach-building apprenticeship and now they say they have nowhere to go. That’s the real human cost of closure. We can’t just sit back and watch this happen.
“This is the eleventh hour in the effort to save these jobs. Unite is calling on Jeff Wright to do the right thing – by this workforce, by their families, and by this town. We need him to hand over the land, save their livelihoods and offer hope for so many in the mouth of Christmas. There’s still time to deliver a hopeful future but we need him to act now“, Mr Brash concluded.
Unite the Union, Ireland Region 