Brough jobs fight goes on as BAE secures Oman deal

THE fight to save BAE Brough jobs goes on after it was revealed a £2.5bn contract will have no impact on 120 redundancies planned for next year.

BAE has landed the deal to sell 20 aircraft to Oman, work which will sustain the Brough site until 2016.

Although the deal will protect existing jobs at the site, the company says it has not had any impact on the 120 redundancies planned at the East Yorkshire site next year.

David Davis, Conservative MP for Haltemprice and Howden, said: "Oman's decision to order BAE aircraft is testament to the talents and dedication of its employees and to the unrivalled performance of British-built aircraft.

"I welcome the fact that this contract will protect jobs in East Yorkshire.

"However, with 120 redundancies planned at Brough for the new year, there is still much work to do to prevent further job losses."

The contract with the Sultanate of Oman will see BAE provide 12 Typhoon fighter jets and eight Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft, with deliveries expected to commence in 2017.

The contract will cover the supply of the aircraft and in-service support for them.

Roy Cartwright, works convenor at BAE Brough, says the announcement will come as a "kick in the teeth" to the staff losing their jobs next year.

He said: "There will be a lot of people sitting at home over Christmas who should be celebrating this news.

"Instead, they won't be because they are losing their jobs.

"A lot of good people have either been lost or will be lost from the site.

"The good news is that the contract will save some jobs for longer.

"To be honest, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth."

A BAE spokesman would not go into specific staffing levels at the Brough site but said the workforce would be able to deliver this contract.

She did say Brough remains the centre of Hawk engineering for BAE Systems, as with the order for 22 Hawks for the Royal Saudi Air Force received earlier this year.

She said: "Brough will undertake detail manufacturing and sub-assembly work on this contract.

"Prior to receiving the RSAF Hawk order, this manufacturing work would have been undertaken in the sub-contract base."

In September last year, BAE announced it was closing the Brough site, with the loss of 899 jobs.

But in May, the company brought in work to the factory which it said would remove the threat of hundreds of compulsory redundancies.

A total of 223 staff have already left voluntarily.

Alan Johnson, Hull West and Hessle MP, said: "The staff will have a better Christmas than last year but there are still problems to overcome. David Davis and I will continue to work together to resolve them and seek to avoid any compulsory redundancies at the site."

BAE's managing director of military aircraft Chris Boardman said in the wake of the Oman order there were no more job losses planned at brough.

He said: "Winning orders like this gives that job security and keeps that workforce safe for a longer period of time.

"Todays news is great for the Brough site and for the Hawk aircraft.

"I'm absolutely determined to capture more Hawk orders. If we capture more Hawk orders we sustain the future of Brough."

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