Axed BAE workers may get EU help in quest for new jobs

NINE hundred workers set to lose their jobs at BAE Systems in East Yorkshire could be thrown a financial lifeline by the European Union to help them to re-train in new industries such as the burgeoning green energy sector.

Diana Wallis, the Liberal Democrat MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, held high-level talks with EU officials in Strasbourg yesterday to discuss whether the 900 people set to be made redundant at BAE in Brough next month might be eligible for support from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF).

Up to 500m euros are available each year via the EGF to help workers to find new employment and develop new skills after they lose jobs as a result of changing global trade patterns or economic crisis.

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Eligible workers are entitled to allowances while looking for new jobs and participating in training activities, as well as targeted help such as careers advice, mentoring, specially-tailored training and job search assistance.

A spokesman for Mrs Wallis’s Hull office said her meeting with EU Employment Commissioner Laszlo Andor yesterday to discuss the matter had been “positive”.

“Mr Andor said this case would be an appropriate application for the fund,” her spokesman said. “It definitely appears to be a possibility and it is certainly worth pursuing. Diana will now be talking to MPs involved in the case.”

A formal application would need to be made by the UK Government to Brussels for EGF funding before any final decision is made.

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“Diana’s view is that this is a highly-skilled workforce and hopefully with a little retraining they may be able to benefit from the work that is going on in the renewable energy sector in the Humber area – whether its wind turbines or carbon capture or whatever,” her spokesman added.

BAE’s 90-day consultation on the redundancies is due to finish at Christmas. Jim Murphy, Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary, will visit Brough today to meet union officials, BAE management and workers facing redundancy.