UK campaigners bidding to save hundreds of steelworkers’ jobs urged MPs to back their fight on 31 March, as some 209 posts are under threat at Coventry-based Liberty Pressing Solutions after efforts to sell the plant failed.

According to a report in the UK tabloid newspaper The Daily Mirror, staff have until 21 April to save their livelihoods. UK Labour MP Zarah Sultana used a parliamentary device to rally fellow MPs behind the crusade.

Her Early Day Motion ‘calls on management to redouble efforts to save jobs at Liberty Steel Solutions and find a buyer; and calls on the Government to urgently act to protect skilled jobs at Liberty Pressing Solutions with an industrial strategy and investment to transition to a green, sustainable economy’.

''It would be a travesty to abandon [the workers] and let their skills go to waste......for them and their families, this would be at the worst possible time, with the cost-of-living crisis biting hard.''

UK Labour MP Zarah Sultana

Sultana told The Daily Mirror: “Workers at Liberty Pressing Solutions have decades of experience, with skills that are vital to rebuilding our manufacturing base and for transitioning to a green, sustainable economy.

"That is why it would be a travesty to abandon them and let their skills go to waste – and for the workers and their families, this would be at the worst possible time, with the cost-of-living crisis biting hard.

“The Government needs to step-up and proactively support manufacturing jobs like this with an industrial strategy that secures their long-term, sustainable future.”

Previous customers for the factory’s products included Jaguar Land Rover, Honda, Nissan, BMW, digger-manufacturer JCB and tractor-maker New Holland.

But its future was plunged into jeopardy in March when owners triggered a 45-day consultation on redundancies, as its parent company GFG Alliance continued to struggle following the collapse of its main lender, Greensill Capital last year.

“The structural long-term downturn in the UK automotive market has meant that it has not been possible to find a buyer for LPSC, and as a result a formal consultation opened on March 7.”

Spokesperson for GFG Alliance

GFG stated: “Following the announcement in May 2021 that GFG Alliance would be divesting Liberty Pressing Solutions Coventry, the Group has actively been seeking potential buyers for the business.

“LPSC has continued to fulfill customer orders through this period, during which operations were funded through shareholder capital.''

“The structural long-term downturn in the UK automotive market has meant that it has not been possible to find a buyer for LPSC, and as a result a formal consultation opened on March 7.”

Pressure to save jobs is not only coming from MPs, as the Unite union is also battling to save the posts.

"This plant should have a viable future and it is incumbent on the Government and Liberty to work with potential buyers to secure that future as part of a joined-up strategy to ensure that the automotive industry successfully undergoes the transition needed to meet the challenges of the green economy."

Des Quinn, Unite national officer

Unite national officer Des Quinn said: "This plant should have a viable future and it is incumbent on the Government and Liberty to work with potential buyers to secure that future as part of a joined-up strategy to ensure that the automotive industry successfully undergoes the transition needed to meet the challenges of the green economy.''

Source: The Daily Mirror