Posted on 02/16/2009 10:07:39 AM PST by Steelfish
February 16, 2009
BMW to cut 850 jobs at Oxford Mini plant
Marcus Leroux and Jenny Booth
BMW, the German vehicle maker, today announced plans to lay off 850 weekend agency staff at its Mini factory in Cowley, near Oxford, as the slowdown in demand for cars worsens.
Agency workers leaving Cowley this morning expressed their anger at being given just one hour’s notice of losing their job. The company made the announcements just as the staff affected were finishing their shift.
"It’s a disgrace. I feel as though I’ve been used. We should have been given one month’s notice, not one hour," said one worker.
John Cunningham, who has worked at the factory for more than two years, said he felt betrayed. "We’ve been given a week’s pay for an enforced week off, which I suppose is a week’s notice. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me and my family. It’s very scary."
Union sources said workers booed and threw apples and oranges at managers after being told the news.
(Excerpt) Read more at business.timesonline.co.uk ...
Not really. You were paid and compensated in other ways for every hour you worked there.
I think RC2 has it right.
Who would want to buy a car that was built by po’d union labor during their “notice” period (can you say ‘lemon’)?
I know I wouldn’t...
There might come a day when they wish they still had those apples and oranges.
Not really one hour, they got a weeks severance pay. Based on how the workers reacted I would say good call on BMW's part. Nothing like having disgruntled union workers working in your plant for a week knowing they are going to be laid off.
I agree. When you’re going to quit, let your manager know 5 minutes before the end of your shift. Get it over with and get on with life. None of this 2 weeks notice crap!
I would assume apples and oranges will be banned not long from now due to their danger as weapons.
I wonder if management compared them afterwards.
I worked with a woman who was let go, but they allowed her to finish out the day. She finished the day by deleting files from her PC as well as a company server and walked away with all the notes and job descriptions useful to her desk that she could lay her hands on.
Best to make a clean break.
Yeah, I suppose those workers may have stuffed their pockets with lugnuts from the line, eh?
Traditionally layoffs are done with no notice. I’ve been let go before, its just the way its done.
Whether or not a weeks severance is sufficient might be a question certainly, and that would depend on the local laws, contracts and traditions in the industry.
I’m sure that after the tantrum by the layoffees , the management is glad they did the firings as they did.
So, I ask, would management be glad to receive notices that employees are going to quit 5 minutes before the employees walk out the door?
agency staff = temps.
You can surely do that. It is your decision. I would keep in mind that if you did that to me, don’t use me as a reference when applying for another job. There’s logical reasons for doing what many companies do. Not all good, I’ll agree, but when times are bad they must look at what is for the best of the company and...... will they survive? Most good companies don’t like doing layoffs. They actually care for their people, but when the boots hit the dirt, some tough decisions must be made.
.....We should have been given one month’s notice ......
During which you would sabotage every car that went down the line.
America has that stupid rule and it results in open sabotage on the line
Notice is a difficult situation in layoffs. In a perfect world, everyone would get sufficient notice and behave professionally prior to their departure.
In the real world, people are petty, they stop working, they steal and damage company property. One woman who was fired in my office walked over to the server, opened it up and ripped out all the wires, then threw coffee on the motherboard. She spent some time in jail when the cops went to her house to retrieve property she stole and found cocaine on her coffee table.
A minor but intriguingly important piece in your “humor”;-)
Sorry, I thought this was at either the Triumph, MG or Hillamn car factories.
I managed a department through what was, at that time, the largest chapter 11 bankruptcy in the computer industry. I laid off dozens and dozens of people, people I cared for. And if they asked me, privately, if they were on one of the endless lists of layoffs, I let them know without ‘telling them’ (corporate was paranoid of the repercussions). I lost a $25 piece of equipment in total in two years.
If you’re a good manager, and if you’re a good company, you’ll find ways to avoid this petty crap. If you’re a crappy manager, you’ll fall back on the old canard of “Well it’s better to make it quick.” No, it’s not better, it’s just easier than trying to do the hard work of being a manager who knows his people, and partners with his workers. This is a bush league move, and BMW deserves to have egg on it’s face.
And I say that as a driver of one of the “realest” BMWs of all time, a 750il, among others...
I am also out of the electronics industry. Went through a layoff where I had to cut back some of my people. I lost a $30,000.00 design from one ticked off designer. So the coin flips two ways doesn’t it? Each company is different and operates in a manner they believe is best for them. I will say that this was a complete surprise to me. I had the best design staff on the west coast and we were all friends and they were payed higher than any other designers in the company.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.