Import tariffs should be imposed on companies that shift jobs from Britain to slash labour costs and boost profits, according to the new head of the giant Transport and General Workers Union.
Tony Woodley, a member of the so-called ‘awkward squad’ of assertive trade union leaders, said companies like vacuum-cleaner and washing-machine maker Dyson, which has exported jobs to Malaysia, should have levies placed on products made there and imported back into the UK.
Talking to The Observer at this year’s Trades Union Congress in Brighton, Woodley said Dyson was a profitable company with a successful product range and that ‘corporate greed’ was the only reason behind its labour policy.
‘We are losing jobs across manufacturing at the moment. In situations like this, where you have a successful and profitable company and it moves jobs overseas, I think there should be tariffs on their products coming back into this country.’
In 2002 Dyson moved vacuum-cleaner production from its base in Malmesbury, Wiltshire to Malaysia, where production costs are a third less than in the UK, with the loss of 800 British jobs. In August it announced that it is also to switch production of its washing machines to Malaysia.
Last year Dyson made profits of £11.5 million – down from £22m the previous year.
>From The Gaurdian