Welsh Conservative AMs will travel to Germany next week to meet senior executives from Bosch to discuss the closure of its car components plant near Cardiff.
AMs Andrew RT Davies, David Melding and Alun Cairns will visit Stuttgart for top level talks about the 900 planned job losses at the firm’s Miskin factory.
Welsh Conservatives today published correspondence revealing how Assembly Government ministers held just two meetings with Bosch between October 2009 and January 2010.
The letter reveals that the first came in October 2009 in response to the firm’s announcement that it might close the Miskin plant, and the second on the eve of confirmation the factory will close.
Welsh Conservatives also learned last month that ministers did not travel to Germany to lobby Bosch on behalf of its Welsh workforce before the closure was announced.
Speaking ahead of next week’s visit Andrew RT Davies said:
“I am pleased we have managed to secure a meeting with senior Bosch executives in Germany.
“We are not only concerned about the fate of hundreds of workers at the plant, but also the impact its closure will have on the surrounding community.
“It is becoming clearer by the day that the Assembly Government failed to exhaust every possible opportunity to save hundreds of jobs at Bosch.
“The fact that ministers held just two meetings with the firm and also failed to travel to Germany before the closure was confirmed demonstrates a dereliction of duty on the part of the Assembly Government.
“If the plant does close, as expected, we want to know what alternative plans the company has for the site which could lead to new employment and investment in the area.
“We want to impress upon Bosch executives in the strongest possible terms just how important their factory is to the local economy in South Wales and the difficulties all this uncertainty is bringing to families who depend on Bosch employment at Miskin.”
