Workers Revolutionary Party - BALFOUR BEATTY’S SACK WARNING TO 12,000

The News Line: News Friday, 30 March 2012 BALFOUR BEATTY’S SACK WARNING TO 12,000

Sparks demonstrating against 30 per cent wage cuts outside the Kings Cross construction site last September

Construction giant Balfour Beatty has warned its 12,000 staff in the UK they could lose their jobs as a result of the slump in the building industry.

Industry analysts said yesterday that initial estimates suggest about 4,000 jobs are to go.

New infrastructure projects are expected to fall sharply after the Olympics in London this year. The company employs 50,000 people worldwide.

Its UK business employs 12,000 staff, and includes Mansell, Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering, Balfour Beatty Engineering Services and Balfour Beatty Construction.

A company statement said it was conducting a consultation process ‘to align the resources of Balfour Beatty’s Construction Services UK business to current and future market conditions’.

The move is part of Balfour Beatty’s plans to make £50 million of savings by 2015, as reported during its results earlier this month.

The company statement said: ‘We do anticipate that there may be some future job losses if, following dialogue with all of our employees, the decision is made to proceed with the proposals for change.’

The UK represents £3.5bn of revenue and 50 per cent of its construction business.

Group profits rose by nine per cent in 2011.

Chief operating officer Andrew McNaughton said the company will focus on efficiency savings in the coming year, such as procurement processes.

Despite the coalition government’s emphasis on infrastructure as a driver of recovery, new projects and investment remain scarce.

Ian Tyler, chief executive of Balfour Beatty, warned that the ‘difficult headwinds’ in the UK were likely to continue this year.

The ‘restructuring’ move comes after Balfour Beatty was forced to back off from its threat to sack thousands of skilled electrical workers who refused to sign new terms and conditions, cutting their wages by 30 per cent.

After losing a bid to have a strike ballot declared illegal, the group said it would retain employees under existing conditions until a deal between the Unite union and management had been reached.

Now these workers face the sack.