Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood and Chris Franks have urged fellow politicians to back plans to oppose the privatisation of the Royal Mint.
The Assembly Members for South Wales Central made the calls after strong indications circulated that the plant in Llantrisant, which employs nearly 900 people, is due to be sold by the Treasury in order to tackle the budget deficit.
Ms Wood and Mr Franks have drafted a statement of opinion calling for cross-party support to oppose privatisation and oppose any redundancies at the site.
Ms Wood said: “Privatisation usually means job losses and I have grave concerns about the future of the Royal Mint and its ability to remain in its current form if it is sold off.
“This is a profit-making company and selling it off would be tantamount to selling off the family silver. It does not make any sense, economically or socially, and I hope the Treasury comes to its senses if it is considering this move.”
Mr Franks said: “Let us not forget that it was New Labour that opened the door to privatisation by making the Mint a government owned company.
“The unions predicted that privatisation was the next step but their concerns fell on deaf ears.
“Privatisation and part-privatisation of public services, as advocated by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, is not the answer to dealing with the public sector deficit.
“We need efficient, well-run public services, not the outsourcing of profitable assets. I am concerned if privatisation goes ahead at Llantrisant it would adversely affect workers conditions and particularly their pensions.
“We should have learned by now that private firms are not always the best when it comes to looking after people’s pensions.
“Plaid Cymru has been concerned for some time, but now we fear that the very future of the Royal Mint at Llantrisant is at stake.”
