Rover Engineers Sent Back To UK

BY ANTONY HOPKER

Rover designers who moved from the Gaydon plant to work for BMW in Germany are returning to an uncertain future after being sent back to England.

Up to 100 engineers are being forcibly repatriated to Britain after their bosses decided to end their secondment to Munich.

The workers had been encouraged to go to Germany for a two-year period to spend time working on new BMWs and Rovers.

The German firm particularly sought their expertise in building 4x4 models as BMW has just launched its own vehicle.

But the English engineers have now been sent home and face an uncertain future because the Gaydon plant could close.

Many of them cannot even return to their own homes as they have rented them out on contract.

Roger Lyons, General Secretary of the MSF (Manufacturing, Science Finance) union said one young man recently went to Germany believing he was about to start a new life.

His wife quit her job, they sold their house but just one month later they are on their way home with no prospects for the future.

Mr Lyons said: "BMW have rewarded the sacrifice and dedication of these highly skilled and professional staff with treachery. Their lives are now in ruins BMW have acted shamefully.

“BMW have taken the valuable knowledge of these British design engineers for their future profits and left the British staff with nothing for the future at all.”