Unions lobby Mandelson to keep Vauxhall safe

Lord Mandelson will today come under renewed pressure from the UK's biggest union to shore up the future of 5,000 Vauxhall car and van workers at factories in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire and Luton. As the Business Secretary prepares to visit Vauxhall's Luton IBC van plant today, Unite urged him to give a "100 per cent pledge" that he would fight for job guarantees from Magna, the Canadian business that is almost certain to be the new owner. Magna agreed to take control of GM Europe, which owns Vauxhall and Opel factories, in May, as General Motors, the American parent, was preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in one of the biggest corporate failure in US history. Magna has proposed paying €700 million (£610 million) for a 55 per cent slice of Opel and has handed over €300 million of emergency funding to keep GM... [read full story]                    

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