DHL to cut 2,200 jobs at Jaguar Land Rover plants

DHL Supply Chain workers deliver and collect car parts for JLR plants

About 2,200 jobs supplying Jaguar Land Rover manufacturing plants are at risk.

Trade union Unite said 40% of DHL Supply Chain staff at plants in the Midlands and North West may lose their jobs.

Unite said it was "a massive, bitter blow" and called on the government to protect car manufacturers as production has declined due to coronavirus.

DHL Supply Chain blamed "highly challenging trading conditions" and said it would aim to redeploy staff.

Car production has been severely reduced during the coronavirus pandemic

The agency workers at risk are employed at JLR plants in Castle Bromwich, Ellesmere Port, Halewood, Hams Hall, Midpoint, Solihull and Tyrefort.

They are employed working to deliver parts to warehouses and production lines and also transport completed vehicles.

Unite said the cuts were due to "efficiency savings" as a result of the decline in car production.

The unions' officer for logistics, Matt Draper, said it would not stand for DHL "forcing workers to undertake impossible workloads as they show other workers the door".

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More than 6,000 jobs in the UK's automotive sector were cut in June and with one in six jobs thought to be at risk.

Union bosses said JLR has "a moral duty" to support plant workers

The industry came to a screeching halt in April, down 99.7% against the same month last year - the lowest output since World War Two.

"While DHL is the employer, the reality is that the workers perform their roles for JLR," Mr Draper said, adding that JLR had "a moral duty" to support workers.

A spokesperson for JLR said the firm was undergoing "a transformative programme against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic".

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