BackBritain’s trade union backs bailout for Tata’s JLR
Britain’s trade union backs bailout for Tata’s JLR
PremiumLondon: Tata Motors’ case for state financial aid for Jaguar Land Rover on Tuesday received support from Britain’s biggest trade union, which wants the government to provide help by Christmas, as Tata has injected more cash into the company.
Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite, said that there was little reason for the British government not to act now that Tata Motors had injected more cash.
Jaguar Land Rover, which employs 15,000 people in Britain, was reported to have received “tens of millions" from Tata Motors, which will stave off an immediate cashflow crisis.
Woodley told The Times: “I’m delighted that Tata has put more financing into the company. It is obviously right that they do so, having bought it only nine months ago.
“I would now be extremely surprised if the Government did not give financial support to the company as well and I would be very surprised if it wasn’t this side of Christmas. I would be disappointed if there was no confirmation of the availability of a loan or credit guarantees at least," he said.
Reports, however, said that despite Woodley’s optimism, a state bailout is unlikely to come before Christmas.
Tata Motors, which bought Jaguar Land Rover from Ford in March for $2.3 billion, borrowed $3 billion to finance the acquisition and to step up production of its low-cost Nano model.
Reports said that Tatas have secured “last minute funding" for JLR as bankers were convinced that the UK government will prevent a collapse of the luxury car maker.
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