850 jobs gone

[illegalhunter]

MINI is making a shift redundant , its all agency workers. Not good

[The Dogfather]

That's why they have agency staff, other manufactuers have taken similar action, I expect them to protect their own staff from redundancy in the same way that Honda have.

[AndyP & Lenore]

There's no doubt it's a shame for the agency staff. And I doubt their agencies will simply be able to place them elsewhere.

However, a cut in production is very very very good news for current owners. The sooner we get back to to the situation when we ask a dealer for a new build mini for them to suck breath over their teeth and say "Ohhhh. I've no allocation left this year, let's see if I can get an allocation from another dealer. Could be 4 months mind" - the better. IMHO.

A.

[Ferengo]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090216/tuk-bmw-to-cut-850-mini-jobs-dba1618.html

[AndyP & Lenore]

Ferengo, I've merged your thread with this one to avoid duplicate conversations.

A.:thumbs up:

[Scottie]

well thats not good news

hopefully the agency workers will get an enhanced package.

[Scottie]

anyone watch the news, the workers are not happy.

[Scottie]

well thats not good news

hopefully the agency workers will get an enhanced package.

oh dear not a penny for some of them and with only an hours notice to quit.:frown::frown:

anyone see the 100's of Mini sitting at Southampton Docks??

[Craig]

aye there was someone video'ing it on their phone and at one point, they had to stop as it looked like some at the back were trying to get to the front to "show" their displeasure...

I understand the need to cut jobs in the current climate, but there are ways of going about it... :frown::frown: Feel sorry for anyone having to loose out during these hard times for businesses. :sad:

[Craig]

found the vid...... not listened to it, so there may be some choice language....:rolleyes:

j93yNeZ2mPQ

[N12 JLK]

shocking video Craig, sad.

[Big Gordy]

Unfortunately that is the nature of agency work:frown: The problem seems to be that some of the agency workers have been there for 4 years plus which, if they were permanent members of staff,would have been entitled to redundance payments and the like.
I don't know if its the case with MINI but agency workers are usually paid a premium over staff to cover this very eventuality and its a risk you accept when being employed as agency staff I'm affraid:popcorn:
Like I said I don't know the details of how mini do it but the experience I've had of this is that agency workers can be paid anything from 2 to 5 quid an hour more than staff:eek: (after 4 years that a hell of a lot of money:eek:)
I've been in the same situation once,being told just before lunch that I didn't need to come in tomorrow:frown: I was staff tho and got 3 months pay so it wasn't that bad I suppose:rolleyes:
I really don't see what they have to complain about really as it's a risk all agency people run and thats why they get paid more:idea:

[Gismo]

I work through an agency and if the client doesn't want my services they can terminate my contract with immediate effect and vice versa i may add.

Gordy's right, usually agency staff get more per hour per day to compensate for the lack of paid leave, pensions and all the other perks that staff get, including redundancy payouts.
Not having seen the contracts the MINI agency folks have, but, i'd guess they don't have a leg to stand on with regards pay outs hence BMW's stance.

Not that i don't think it's pretty crap to be given an hours notice, but, no one heard any complaints whilst they were paid recently while the plant was shut down

[Big Gordy]

no one heard any complaints whilst they were paid recently while the plant was shut down

Good point Alan:thumbs up: I heard an interview with one of the guys at the Honda factory who was on a 4 month shutdown saying that over the 4 months he will be getting roughly 80% of his basic salary for sitting in the house:eek: He can also do another job for the 4 months if he wants/can find one:rolleyes:
AndyP may be able to confirm this, but I was told it costs an employer about £8000 per annum (depending on salary) to have someone on the books what with holidays, sick pay, pension contributions, etc:idea:

[Livi]

unfortunatly as most have said, as a contract worker, your contract can terminate when it likes.

The guys were told an hour before they finished there nightshift (5am) and obviously, they are not going to be happy, as what do they do now?

it is a pain, and BMW/MINI have basically lost faith in there product if they have to do this. :rolleyes:

[Big Gordy]

BMW/MINI have basically lost faith in there product if they have to do this. :rolleyes:

Don't think that's the case Dave:frown: They are in this to make money and car manufacturing worldwide is in a major slow down so it would be rather foolish of them to plough on making cars that they can't sell:thud:
BMW have always, with the MINI anyway, build less cars than punters wanting to buy them and in doing so have managed to keep the cost of buying a new or second hand one relatively high. There not daft you know:moonie::smilewinkgrin:

[euan]

Whilst it is sad that they didn't get much notice, for the reasons highlighted above - it's the nature of contract work. If they wanted job security with a redundancy package, they should have got a permanent contract. Of course, that argument misses a few key points - maybe BMW didn't want to offer contract positions to ensure they have cover for this kind of situation, in which case they have a point against BMW, but in that case they should have been pushing for it before they got to 4 years...

I don't have that much sympathy to be honest - BMW have only done what EVERY other company is doing or going to do. If you had the choice in their position you'd get rid of the people who won't cost you money first.

[Scottie]

All depends on what kind of agency you work for if it is an employment agency that has put you into a job for a period of time then yes most of what has been said above is correct

If however you work for an "agency" that offers services to specific types of industry then your contract is slightly different.

[euan]

Scottie - Agree - we have no idea about the ins and outs of their contracts. Just from what I've read and seen on it, it looks a bit like they are not entitled to anything and they know no other car company is hiring, so I'd be wanting some cash as well if I thought I could pressure them into it.

[Livi]

Just from what I've read and seen on it, it looks a bit like they are not entitled to anything


unfortunatly, there not entitled to anything at all... so no job, no pay off - just a pure 'theres the door' :bigwave:

[Big Gordy]

Like I've said before....that's one of the risks of being a 'paidovertheoddsforthesamejob' agency worker:thumbs up: It's all built into the salary:moonie::smilewinkgrin: (Can't understand what all the fuss is about:yawn:) I feel more sorry for the people who get paid off and are normal staff as they've not had the benefit of the bigger salary over the same amout of years. Trust me, the redundancy packages that are usually being offered are crap and by no means compensate you in my experience:ragin: Been there too many times before (been made redundant 5 times so I know what I'm talking about) Unless you get an enhanced package, the government payout is pi$h:ragin:

[euan]

Can't understand what all the fuss is about
Agree completely. They knew the deal of their contracts, they knew the risks. I'm surprised none of them saw it coming...

[AeroJonny]

I don't see what all the fuss is about...less traffic in the mornings is a good thing as far as i'm concerned ;)

[Scottie]

Like I've said before....that's one of the risks of being a 'paidovertheoddsforthesamejob' agency worker:thumbs up: It's all built into the salary:moonie::smilewinkgrin: (Can't understand what all the fuss is about:yawn:) I feel more sorry for the people who get paid off and are normal staff as they've not had the benefit of the bigger salary over the same amout of years. Trust me, the redundancy packages that are usually being offered are crap and by no means compensate you in my experience:ragin: Been there too many times before (been made redundant 5 times so I know what I'm talking about) Unless you get an enhanced package, the government payout is pi$h:ragin:

if you think the person employed through the agency gets paid over the odds you should see what the actual agency gets paid.:argh::argh:

I've never known an agency worker yet (well any that i've taken on in the past) to have been paid more than any of the other people in the office.

Any long term agency worker has always had a yearly increased pay rise which would have been agreed between myself and the agency.

Agency workers get 14 days paid leave (can't remember if that's an exact figure as it's been 2 years now) from their agency, however I may for whatever reason ask the agency to pay them more leave days but I would get charged for it.

No sick pay but I may put hours in for them so they got something.

Any agency worker that worked for us for more than 6 months got an enhanced package of 9 months pay when they were made redundant.

So from my experience working with a large corporate company I would have thought BMW/MINI would have done something for them, but I guess the company took advantage of the current climate and are not to bothered about bad press.

[Big Gordy]

I heard on the radio this morning that General Motors are laying off 43,000 workers worldwide this year:eek::frown: