BAE avoids planned redundancies

BAE Systems sites in Warton and Samlesbury have reversed the decision to make 1,400 positions redundant following recent contract wins and negotiations with workers’ unions.

The company announced the job losses in September after demand for both Typhoon and Joint Strike Fighter aircraft cooled.

Lancashire Business View reported in March that employees had agreed to take one day’s unpaid leave per month to free up resources to save around 500 jobs.

Now, further measures agreed by workers’ unions, including retraining and redeployment and 200 voluntary redundancies will negate the need for compulsory redundancies all together.

A spokesman for BAE Systems said: “Since announcing potential job losses last September, the company, our employees and their representatives have been focused on pursuing all opportunities to avoid and mitigate those potential job losses.

“We are pleased to confirm that, through employees leaving on voluntary redundancy or to other parts of BAE Systems, additional work coming in and other inn-ovative mitigations, we have been successful in avoiding the need for compulsory redundancies at our Samlesbury and Warton sites.”

The news follows last month’s announcement of a £1.6bn deal to supply 22 Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft to Saudi Arabia.

It has been estimated that each job lost at BAE Systems costs two further jobs in the supply chain within Lancashire.