TRADE unions at BAE Systems are demanding talks with bosses over the implications of a proposed £30 billion merger with European rival EADS.
The GMB union is urging BAE, operator of the Govan and Scotstoun dockyards, to be cautious in its approach to merger plans and has called on the Government not to stand aside during the attempt to create a European giant to compete with US rivals.
Prospect, who represent professional and engineering staff, also expressed concern yesterday. Incoming general secretary Mike Clancy said all defence contractors had been under immense pressure because of spending cuts. He said: "Whether the news of this merger brings reassurance or not for the workers depends on whether the new company will go for consolidation or growth.
"We are seeking early talks about the future strategic positioning of the business. We are puzzled as to why BAE has decided to merge with EADS, even though it cut formal ownership ties with Airbus only a few years ago."
That break-up ended in acrimony in 2006 as news of delays in the projects caused a fall in share price just as BAE was trying to divest its share.
Mr Clancy added: "BAE Sys-tems is a prime contractor of the Ministry of Defence, and this move clearly reflects fears about future profitability of those arrangements as defence markets shrink."
The firm, which has more than 3000 employees in Scotland, mainly on the Clyde, is adding nothing to its Stock Exchange statement about merger talks on Wednesday but most defence analysts think the shipbuilding sector would be protected from any rationalisation.
Jim Moohan, senior Scottish organiser of GMB and chairman of the shipbuilding and engineering unions, said: "As we now have stability with job protection, capital investment and recruitment of hundreds of apprentices, it is important we do not jeopardise the time and effort put into achieving this.
"We can ill afford to make mistakes from which the UK employment sector could very well face long-term consequences. The trade unions would suggest caution is the key and would ask BAE Systems to ensure that, from the very outset, they engage totally with the trade unions who they have a very good relationship with and also that the UK Government do not stand aside from a merger."
BAE and EADS, the French-German-Spanish conglomerate, fell out over the civilian Airbus project, but have continued to collaborate on the Eurofighter Typhoon jet and both have a share in the MBDA missile firm.
If they overcome the regulatory hurdles and merge, BAE shareholders will own 40% of the combined business and EADS shareholders 60%. They would have combined sales of £60bn and employ 220,000 people worldwide.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article