Rover workers sent home

Workers at the site today. .
13 April 2012

Thousands of workers at ailing car giant MG Rover were sent home on full pay today after an emergency Government loan of £6.5 million staved off mass redundancies and frantic efforts continued to save jobs.

Administrators appointed to run the company after the collapse of talks with a proposed Chinese partner said they had no plans to resume car production at the Longbridge factory in Birmingham.

They revealed that without the Government loan they would have announced a "significant" number of redundancies today.

The 6,000 Longbridge workers held a mass meeting with union leaders and were told to go home to await developments while efforts continued to revive talks with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation.

Meanwhile it was revealed that wives and partners of MG Rover workers are planning to march on Downing Street on Wednesday in protest at potential rates of redundancy pay.

The women want similar rates for workers at the Birmingham Longbridge plant as for those laid off at other British car plants in recent years.

The Longbridge workers were handed an employee brief this morning updating them on the current crisis.

A statement from the joint administrators said MG Rover and its Powertrain engine business were incurring "very significant losses", estimated at between £20 million and £25 million per month.

The statement added: "Without external cash support, the companies are unable to pay the vast majority of employees beyond Monday April 11."

Ian Powell, one of the joint administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), said the loan had given a breathing space while efforts were made to contact SAIC to see if the firm was still interested in a deal, as well as pursuing other expressions of interest.

"We have no plans to recommence car production. We have told workers they will be paid until further notice but there is no production going on."

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