Workers are planning a mass meeting at a struggling car parts factory in Cardiff after plans were revealed to close it next year with the loss of 900 jobs.
The Bosch plant in Miskin, near Cardiff, which makes alternators for the motor industry, is expected to close in 2011 at the end of an extended consultation period and transfer work to Hungary.
In response, the Unite union is holding a mass meeting at the Cardiff site on Saturday where it will set out how it will support its members, who it says have been left "absolutely devastated" by the recommendation to close the south Wales plant.
The union, which represents much of the workforce at the site, has spent the last three months negotiating with Bosch in a bid to save the plant.
Unite regional officer David Lewis said: "Since October last year, Unite has been seeking alternatives to the closure of the site, but the company has not supported our proposals.
"This is a terrible blow to 900 workers and their families. We will now vigorously campaign for the best possible deal for the workforce."
During the 90-day consultation period in October the company considered two options - to either shed 300 jobs and carry on with a smaller operation or close the plant entirely in 2011 if no commercially viable new business was found.
But according to Bosch no new business has been found, resulting in a recommendation to the company's board that production should be phased out and the plant closed.
The consultation period will now be extended to the end of February so that the plant council, union and plant management can agree the terms for the phase-out of production before a final confirmation by the Bosch board.
A final decision will be known within the next few weeks.
The Welsh Assembly government described the news as "a significant blow" for Bosch employees and said it would offer them its full support.
Wales TUC general secretary Martin Mansfield said: "This is a huge blow to Bosch workers and their families and is a reminder of just how fragile manufacturing in Wales and across Britain remains.
"We hope the company will be able to find alternatives to redundancy and that both the British and Welsh governments can redouble their efforts in terms of direct economic intervention to shore up our struggling but vital industries."
A spokesman for Bosch said sales for its alternator product had dropped by 45 per cent between 2008 and 2009 and were expected to drop by a further 65 per cent in 2010.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/85639
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