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'Sad news for city'
Local politicians
AS Nissan workers face a bleak start to the year and an uncertain future, Wearside's leaders are urgently looking at how best to help.
Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: "We are considering the implications of this announcement and what it means not only to Sunderland's economy, but to the North East and the UK, and I have every sympathy for Nissan staff and their families who have lost their jobs.
"Car and vehicle companies across the UK, Europe and North America have all experienced difficulties in the current economic climate.
"Sunderland's Nissan plant, as the largest and most efficient vehicle manufacturing centre in Europe, was unlikely to be immune from this.
"While there's no doubt this announcement is a low point for many, there is hope as the city and regional economy is today far better placed to cope.
"Nissan also says it remains committed to Sunderland, it has not cancelled its investment decisions and a new model is scheduled to go into production next year.
"Naturally, as we have always done in the 25 years that Nissan has been in Sunderland, we are looking at every possible means of offering support to the city's biggest private employer and, of course, those affected by this announcement."
Nissan news & reaction
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>> More in-depth reaction in today's Sunderland Echo
Sunderland Tory leader Lee Martin said the "horrible news" was a bitter, but expected blow to the city.
He added that he was confident things would pick up again in time, but it was important that everything possible was done to get business back on track.
"It's horrible news. It's going to be very difficult times for the families involved and it will worsen Wearside's economy in the short term.
"Things will bounce back, but in the meantime it's up to the Government to deal with the problems we're facing at the moment," he said.
"Nissan has to do, as a company, what Nissan has to do to make sure it is strong enough to get through this and still be in a place where it can expand again when things pick up."
He added: "A lot of the workers are very skilled people and we've got to make sure we keep that skills base for when things get better, whether that's 2010, 2011 or 2012."
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Coun Martin also wants to see plans to build an iconic bridge in Sunderland brought forward, as well as other council projects that would create jobs.
He said this may not help redundant Nissan workers, but it would boost the city's economy and jobs market as a whole.
Sunderland's Lib Dem leader, Coun Paul Dixon, said he was very disappointed to hear the news and feared for what other opportunities there were in the city for the "highly-skilled workers" left unemployed.
He said there was a massive potential to create thousands of jobs at developments on the Vaux site, the former Pyrex site and other areas in the city – but the council had to press on and bring those projects forward.
He said the city had been waiting too long.
MPs' response
WEARSIDE'S MPs have vowed they and the Government will help those left affected by the job losses and said they are confident the good times will return.
Gateshead East and Washington West MP Sharon Hodgson said she will be doing all she can to help the families that now face a worrying future.
"This is extremely sad news for many local families and is the realisation of something we all feared before Christmas," she said.
"I will be working closely with members of the Nissan Response Group to help minimise the impact on local families."
Ms Hodgson said the Government had already taken steps to improve services to help get people back to work and any Nissan workers affected can expect personalised support from JobCentre Plus.
"I am confident that the skills of workers leaving Nissan will not go to waste," she said.
"Families are facing tough times so it is vital that the right support is available to help them through."
She added that the number one priority had to be the long-term future of the plant.
Sunderland South MP Chris Mullin praised Nissan's record as an employer and said the firm and its workforce still had a positive future.
He said: "This is not good news, but not surprising in the current climate.
"Nissan is a well-managed company and has proved a responsible employer in the past and this is one of the difficult decisions they have had to make that are essential for the long-term survival of the company.
"There have been a number of ups and downs over the years and I know that they are hoping to reinstate at least one of the shifts as early as April and in the long term I think the future remains positive."
Mr Mullin said that Nissan's problem stemmed from a drop in car sales, while Lord Mandelson proposed that help could be made available for developing electric and low-pollution vehicles.
"It's an interesting suggestion," Mr Mullin said. "There is, of course, no way the Government can create a market for cars if none exists, but there might be, I suppose, some possibility for the car industry conditional on starting to produce more environmentally-friendly cars."
National politicians
THE devastating news has sent shockwaves around the world and led to fresh calls for action from opposition parties.
Tory leader David Cameron will be on Wearside today as part of a visit to the North East.
He urged the Government to adopt his national scheme to underwrite bank loans so businesses had vital access to credit.
He said: "Every day the Government delays such a scheme more jobs are lost."
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said the sheer number of the job losses showed the size of the problems and sympathised with those who would be left out of work.
He said: "This will be devastating news for Sunderland and the North East.
"These job losses come soon after the redundancies at Unipres. The regularity and scale at which job losses are now being announced show just how serious a recession we are now in.
"The Government must act quickly to give support and training to those affected so they are able to find new jobs as soon as possible."
Tory North East MEP Martin Callanan said the news was a devastating blow to the region at a time when the North East economy is already under pressure.
"Nissan has been at the heart of our region for more than 20 years. It's essential we do all we can to keep Nissan on Wearside," he said.
"I worked closely with Nissan on EU legislation regarding carbon emissions and I know that this decision will have been a very difficult one to take.
"We can ill afford to lose people of such experience and skills in the region."
Fiona Hall, Lib Dem Euro MP for the North East, added that it was a serious blow for one of the North East's biggest private employers.
She said: "It is now important that the Government provides the right kind of support to the North East's automobile industry – which is still a vibrant and dynamic part of our regional economy, as well as to those workers who have today found themselves without jobs.
"With the recent announcement by Unipres – the company which supplies car parts to the Nissan plant – that 300 jobs will also be lost alongside the 1,200 from Nissan, there is obviously a long struggle ahead for traditional car manufacturing in the North East."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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