WORKERS on strike at the Rolls-Royce plant in Barnoldswick have been boosted by the support of Labour leader Keir Starmer.
Making his statement on December 4, Mr Starmer has now joined fellow politicians from across the political divide including Conservative MP for Pendle Andrew Stephenson and Liberal Democrat councillor and deputy leader of Pendle Council David Whipp in backing the strikers' cause.
He said: "Solidarity to Rolls-Royce workers striking at Barnoldswick to save 350 jobs.
"We need more high skilled jobs like theirs, instead of allowing them to be offshored.
"The government must intervene, work with Rolls-Royce and get around the table with workers to resolve the dispute."
MPs John Trickett and Navendu Mishra have previously questioned prime minister Boris Johnson in parliament about finding a resolution to the dispute.
This comes after workers at the plant have been taking part in targeted strike action since November in opposition to the company's plans to offshore the production of jet engine fan blades to Singapore, at the cost of 350 jobs.
The dispute intensified last week after the company announced that it would be closing the plant from November 27 until after Christmas, with furlough payment guaranteed only to workers who had not been taking part in strike action.
Meanwhile, Mr Starmer's intervention comes just days after the company announced that an additional 140 jobs could be at risk due to plans to move their structures facility to ITP Aero in Spain.
Unite national officer Rhys McCarthy said: “Rolls-Royce’s timing of the latest round of job losses stinks, workers have been left fearing for their futures as Christmas approaches.
“This announcement amounts to a death by a thousand cuts will send a chill through Rolls-Royce’s workers and the entire supply chain.
“Choking the company’s future like this is clearly about pacifying the city and shareholders in the short term.
“Unite will be arguing that the decision to make apprentices redundant must be reversed, they are the future life blood of the company and their loss will affect the long-term success of Rolls-Royce."
Rolls-Royce however has insisted that the further job losses does not mean the plant as a whole will be closed,
A company spokesperson said: “While this will be hugely upsetting news for our colleagues in Barnoldswick, this does not mean we are closing our Barnoldswick site.
"Following our proposal in August to relocate part of our fan blade manufacturing, Barnoldswick will be the home of a product development and technical support centre for wide chord fan blades and continue to manufacture blades for a range of defence and civil aerospace applications."
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